While the rebate on fuel is falling, the State and the communities are struggling to offer solutions for the car

This is the beginning of the end of the fuel rebate. Set up in April by the State, at 18 euro cents per liter, it rose to 30 cents on the 1^er September, plus a 20-cent reduction at TotalEnergies stations. Since Wednesday, November 16, the government will revise it downwards, to 10 cents, followed by TotalEnergies, also to 10 cents, two aids which will end at the end of the year.

“Governing is choosing and taking responsibility”, assumes the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, questioned on Tuesday, November 15 on Europe 1. Motorists have gained two weeks of respite due to the refinery strike. This discount, “It’s a gesture that all taxpayers make”, he insists. It cost 7.6 billion euros.

As the system comes to an end, elected officials on both the left and the right are wondering: these seven months of discount have they been used enough to prepare for the future and offer sustainable solutions that emit less CO₂ to the 85% of French people who need their car to go to work?

Electrifying the car fleet

For now, they have at least allowed the government to think about better targeting of aid, which should no longer benefit all motorists, but benefit “big rollers”. The contours of this support for the most modest households and professionals who drive a lot should be “clarified in the next few days”, according to Mr. Beaune. To collect this new “cheque”, you will have to go “on a simple website”. A budget envelope of 1.6 billion euros is planned.

The Minister also recalls that 1.3 billion euros in bonuses are scheduled in 2023 to electrify the car fleet, a “unparalleled effort in Europe”, they say at the Ministry of Transport, with in particular an increase in the bonus, when buying a 100% electric vehicle, to 7,000 euros for the most modest households. The bicycle plan will also be endowed with 250 million euros in 2023, in addition to the 500 million spent between 2018 and 2022. The budget for rail is on the rise.

The Minister also asked the SNCF to set up a tariff shield: TGV and Intercités tickets will have to increase less quickly than inflation, with special protection for the most modest and young people who use the TGV Ouigo. This shield should be presented in the next few days. Finally, Mr. Beaune is fine-tuning his carpooling support plan, with assistance of around 100 euros for new drivers.

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