The government announced on Tuesday that its €100 payment for people who rely heavily on their cars would run until the end of the year, with the number eligible rising from three million to 5.5 million.
The additional measures for households and businesses will cost about €450 million, Public Accounts Minister David Amiel said.
For those eligible, the €100 payment will represent “the equivalent of 40 cents per litre of fuel for two months on average”, government spokesperson and Deputy Energy Minister Maud Bregeon added.
French government to unveil support package as petrol prices fuel public anger
Pressure for a price cap
The CGT, one of France's main trade unions, said the measures fell far short of what was needed. The one-off €100 payment was “a drop in the ocean” – roughly the cost of a single tank of fuel – secretary-general Sophie Binet told broadcaster RTL on Wednesday.
The aid “does absolutely nothing to cover the surge in petrol prices”, Binet added.
She described the scheme as an “overcomplicated mess”, noting that only about half of those eligible had applied, and called instead for fuel prices and oil-company margins to be capped.
Socialist Party first secretary Olivier Faure said there were “positive elements” in the package while calling for an exceptional tax on oil companies' profits.
Single people earning a net salary of up to €2,050 a month will be eligible, as will couples earning up to €4,070 and couples with two children earning up to €6,100. Applicants must travel at least 15 kilometres each way to work or drive more than 8,000 kilometres a year for work.
Some 1.2 million people already registered will receive the payment automatically, Bregeon said. The maximum tax-free fuel payment employers can give workers will also rise from €600 to €1,000.
Self-employed nurses driving more than 100 kilometres a day on average will receive a one-off €80 payment, benefiting more than 25,000 people, Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said. Home care workers using their own vehicles, working at least half-time and driving 30 kilometres a day will also be eligible for support.
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Record prices
Diesel averaged a record €2.41 a litre on Tuesday, while premium SP98 petrol stood at €2.27 and SP95-E10 petrol at €2.17, according to an AFP analysis of public data.
“Am I going to be able to eat properly at the end of the month?” delivery manager Sylvano Doré asked at a filling station in Bobigny, near Paris, on Tuesday.
Similar concerns were voiced in western France.
“We feel like we're actually paying to go to work,” home care worker Sabrina Breteau said in Rennes.
Despite shortages at some filling stations, the government says France has sufficient supplies.
“There is no supply problem in France,” Economy and Finance Minister Roland Lescure said, adding that authorities had “two months of visibility”.
(with newswires)
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