Selling fuel at a loss: “Everyone must and can make an effort,” Véran retorts to distributors

It's no. Heard at the National Assembly this Wednesday, the distributors Carrefour, Super U, Intermarché and Leclerc all four confirmed that they do not intend to take up the idea put forward by Elisabeth Borne of selling fuel at a loss. These actors thus confirmed, before the Economic Affairs Committee, information from Le Figaro. The government, for its part, insists, calling on everyone to make an “effort”.

The ban “on resale at a loss has been a very important principle of commerce since 1963,” explained Alexandre Bompard, also president of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD) which represents a large part of the sector. “We must not open this Pandora's box at the risk of weakening both the balance of the sectors and territorial equity between consumers,” he then added. “So as far as we are concerned, the Carrefour group - since we cannot consult together, you know - (...) we will not sell at a loss, we will continue to carry out operations at cost price, because we do not “We cannot sell at a loss,” he said.

Same story with other distributors. “For economic reasons, it will not be possible for companies and SMEs in Système U to carry out massive sales operations at a loss,” warned Dominique Schelcher. “We are not going to use this possibility, otherwise we will increase the price of pasta,” added Thierry Cotillard, president of the Mousquetaires. “We’re not crazy,” he then said. “We will not sell at a loss on fuel,” concluded, finally, Philippe Michaud, for the E. Leclerc centers. Enough to close the door, definitively, to the solution proposed by Elisabeth Borne.

Despite everything, the government persists and signs: despite the opposition of the various actors, it maintains its project, which has the advantage of costing nothing to public finances. “Everyone must and can make an effort,” insisted the spokesperson, Olivier Véran, on Wednesday, leaving the council of ministers.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister lifted an old taboo by announcing that fuel could be sold at a loss. This measure, which must be the subject of a bill, was announced to come into force at the beginning of December and to last for six months. The managers of E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Intermarché, Système U, Casino and Auchan expressed to Le Figaro on Tuesday evening their unanimous opposition to the resale of fuel at a loss.

Tuesday evening, the oil giant TotalEnergies also refused to take advantage of this device, indicating that it “will not go lower” than the current price of 1.99 euros per liter currently set in its group's service stations. In France. The oil group, which manages a third of the service stations in France, announced last week that it would extend the cap to 1.99 euros per liter on the price of gasoline and diesel in its 3,400 stations next year. , “as long as prices remain high”.