The government wants to authorize the sale of fuel at a loss from December, for a few months. If the measure is attractive for motorists, it is far from unanimous. Example in Ménigoute, in Deux-Sèvres, where there is a communal service station managed by the municipality.
Some rural communities have a communal service station, managed by the municipality. This is the case in Ménigoute, in Deux-Sèvres. Unleaded 95 is currently sold there for 2.03 euros per liter. It’s expensive, but it saves residents from having to travel miles to refuel.
A motorist refuels at the Ménigoute municipal station, in Deux-Sèvres • © Luc Barré – France Télévisions
And here, the government plan to authorize the sale of fuel at a loss in mass distribution is quite perplexing.
“People who buy from supermarkets, they say that there is only a difference of two or three cents. For me, if I have to travel 15 or 20 kilometers to fill up…says a motorist from Ménigoute! And then, I pass here every day.”
We can’t sell at a loss!
Gérard Saint-Laurent
Deputy Mayor of Ménigoute in charge of planning
And here, there is no question of selling at a loss, as Gérard Saint-Laurent, the deputy mayor of Ménigoute in charge of development, explains: “We only have one product to sell here, it’s fuel. It’s not a loss leader for us. So, we can’t afford to sell at a loss. A community doesn’t have the right to run a deficit, we always have a balanced budget. We have a purchase price, we have a margin to take to cover our depreciation and our operating costs.”
The Ménigoute municipal service station, managed by the municipality • © Luc Barré – France Télévisions
It is of course the surge in fuel prices that led the government to consider authorizing sales at a loss from December, for a few months. It is a question of financially helping the French already affected by the inflation of many products, but the measure is already causing a stir.
This Tuesday, large distributors meeting at the Ministry of the Economy expressed their reluctance, believing that they had already reduced their margins with their baskets of products at cost price.
It should be noted that selling at a loss has been prohibited in France since 1963. If this measure is successful, it will only concern fuels sold by mass retailers and not other products. This bill must be debated in October in the National Assembly.
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