The French public is overwhelmingly in favour of the government cutting fuel taxes amid the growing energy crisis across Europe, a survey has found.
A CSA poll conducted on behalf of broadcasters CNews, Europe 1 and Le Journal du Dimanche found that 82 per cent of French voters support reducing taxes on fuel to lower pump prices for consumers.
Perhaps reflecting the particularities of the French political landscape, voters on the left were more likely to favour a reduction in the fuel tax than those on the right, by a margin of 80 per cent to 66 per cent.
However, supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which advocates for strict immigration in conjunction with strong state intervention in the economy, were the most likely to back a fuel tax cut at 93 per cent.
National Rally President Jordan Bardella — who would serve as the party’s presidential candidate next year should the ban on Le Pen be upheld — came out this week in favour of reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on energy from 20 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
“We need to lower taxes on fuel. It is false to claim that the main driver of the price increase at the pump is the rise in raw material costs. There is a 55 per cent tax on fuel. And when we look around us today, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland: all the major economies of the European Union are lowering taxes,” he told the France 2 broadcaster.
Since the start of the conflict in Iran in February, fuel prices have increased significantly in France, with Le Figaro reporting that diesel has surged by 60 per cent and gasoline by 30 per cent.
Rather than cut the hefty taxes on fuel, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced this week targeted relief funds for certain sectors, particularly fishermen, farmers, and truckers, all of whom already receive energy subsidies.
The strategy from Paris appears to be similar to that taken by the liberal government in Dublin, which effectively quelled large-scale anti-fuel tax protests earlier this month by specifically paying off the farmers and truckers, who had an outsized influence given the ability to use their large vehicles to shut down key infrastructure, nearly crippling Ireland’s energy economy in the process. France, which has a robust history of farmer protests, could be primed for similar demonstrations this summer.
However, political tactics aside, Lecornu also claimed that the French government simply does not have the budgetary headroom to provide widespread tax cuts on fuel, with a budget deficit of over 5 per cent of GDP, and public debt hitting 115.6 per cent of GDP last year.
Should France fail to get its financial house in order, it faces the prospect of being slapped with economic sanctions by Brussels for failing to comply with EU budgetary standards.
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