French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the first reductions in diesel prices at the pump on Monday, describing the government’s measures as concrete solutions producing results without changes to fuel taxes.
Commerce Minister Serge Papin said diesel prices had fallen by between 12 and 18 euro cents per litre at more than half of the country’s service stations. The reduction matches the estimate announced by the Finance Ministry at the end of October, after the government decided to release strategic fuel reserves to ease prices.
France announced in October that 10 million barrels of diesel would be released over three months at cost price for distributors. The government said the measure would allow consumers to benefit from lower prices starting on November 1.
Macron said the decline was encouraging but stressed that prices remained high. He also called for caution because of continuing geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East.
Papin said distributors were implementing the measure and that more than half of the stations had already reduced their prices. According to the minister, those stations serve a majority of French consumers, potentially reaching 80% of the population.
However, independent service stations have complained that they did not receive access to the released fuel at the same time as large retailers and TotalEnergies. Francis Pousse of the Mobilians network described the resulting price differences as unacceptable and said the government’s commitments did not match the measures implemented.
Papin rejected that criticism, saying the government had worked with Pousse on zero-interest loans to help smaller independent stations reduce their prices. He said those stations could lower prices during the week, even if they were unable to do so immediately on Monday morning.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also said the reduction could reach 18 euro cents per litre or more, representing about 10 euros in savings on a full tank. He added that the state would ensure the benefit from releasing the 10 million barrels was fully passed on to consumers.
Sources: Le Monde Économie.