The new offer of low-rent electric vehicles (known as “social leasing”) “will open from July,” said Minister Delegate for Energy Maud Bregeon on Saturday, who also ruled out the suspension of energy saving certificates requested by fuel distributors.
“We are first targeting 50,000 cars for low-income French people, who earn less than 2,200 euros per month on average”, who will have “an out-of-pocket cost of between 100 and 200 euros per month”, she told the newspaper. West France. The government had previously mentioned making it available in June.
“Getting out of our dependence on fossil fuels”
Concerning the request from fuel distributors to suspend energy saving certificates (EEC) for three months to lower prices at the pump, Bregeon has dismissed them. “We must move away from our dependence on imported fossil fuels (…). Giving up overnight the aid that supports the French in this transition would be nonsense! », Estimated the minister. “These devices are essential for purchasing power: to depend less on gas for heating, to facilitate the transition from a thermal vehicle to an electric car…” she underlined.
A draft government decree to regulate margins on fuel prices has sparked an outcry from distributors, who instead are calling for the suspension of EECs, contributions paid by energy suppliers according to the “polluter pays” principle and which make it possible to finance decarbonization actions. “No publication of this decree has been made to date but everyone must play the game. In a few days, the price of a barrel fell from 115 dollars to less than 90 dollars. This drop must be seen in the prices at the pump,” Bregeon told Ouest-France, specifying that a new “point” with distributors would be made on Monday.
As for the sectors penalized by the surge in fuel prices, “the Prime Minister has tasked us with working on a second wave of activity aid for May”, confirmed the minister, referring to “fishermen” whose “situation is still very critical” or “the construction sector, for which the effects of current prices are sometimes becoming difficult to sustain”.