2023-06-07 19:15:13
Rates increased by 4.75% on February 1, 2023. Olivier TuffÃ/ Adobe Stock.
DECRYPTION – Transport Minister Clément Beaune is seeking a discount “of at least 10%” on motorway fares this summer. But how much room for maneuver does the state really have?
No sooner said than done. It didn’t take six hours for one of the main French motorway concessionaires, Vinci Autoroutes, to react to the call from the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune. The latter demanded from the concession companies on RTL on Wednesday morning that they “make a commercial gesturefor their customers this summer.
At midday, Vinci Autoroutes announced a 20% boost paid to all electronic toll subscribers who would pay with holiday vouchers. At the end of the day, it was the turn of its competitor, the APRR-AREA, to grant a matching contribution of 25% on the amount of the holiday vouchers credited on the electronic toll badges “Liber-T Holidays».
Is this how the pricing of motorways is decided: at the request of the “State-grantor“, according to the consecrated expression, the concessionary companies run? We know the subject is particularly sensitive. The scandals over thesuperprofits» motorway companies and calls for «renationaliser» these high-speed lines granted in 2006 to private actors are well underway in the public debate, on the left as on the right.
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The weight of taxes and duties
To see this more clearly, the Association of French motorway and toll structures (ASFA), which defends the interests of concessionary companies, communicated a few years ago the distribution of all the money paid by the motorists at the toll. The state collects 39% through taxes and duties, including VAT. The rest is collected directly by the operator, who distributes it as follows: 30% for the construction and modernization of motorways, 13% for operation and service and 17% for profits.
This last share, the concessionaire uses it “to repay construction-related loans, continue to develop innovative services and remunerate its shareholders“, specifies the ASFA. The concession contract entered into between the State and the operating companies is indeed unique in that it requires the concessionaire to invest large amounts at the start, by going into massive debt, before amortizing this investment over time. . The very low interest rates in the 2010-2020 decade have nevertheless enabled these companies to lighten their debt burden and derive more profit from their activities.
If we stick to the breakdown presented by ASFA, the price of tolls therefore depends in part on tax. As regards the 61% directly pocketed by the dealers, the latter are not free to set the amount. The concession contracts concluded with the State set a framework with which Vinci, Eiffage and even Sanef are required to comply. Price increases must systematically be approved by the Council of State before coming into force – on February 1 of each year.
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The contracts do not provide for a reduction in prices
A significant portion of these rate increases is a function of inflation. This is what explains why the increase on February 1, 2023 (+4.75%) was greater than in previous years. The concession contracts stipulate that prices increase by 70% of inflation excluding tobacco prices in the previous October. With one-year inflation excluding tobacco prices at 5.9% in October 2022, the French toll rate increase should therefore have been set at 4.13%.
The remaining six-tenths of points, in this case, are explained by another clause in the concession contracts. Private companies can integrate part of their investments for the construction and modernization of the network into the annual tariff increases. This mechanism, which has proven its effectiveness, aims to encourage operating companies to invest in order to guarantee a good quality of service.
The concession contracts, on the other hand, do not provide for any scenario where the prices would fall. The only means available to the State to make concession companies consent to price reductions is through incitement. The method has been widely tested by the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, who has obtained rebates in recent months. Once again this summer, Vinci Autoroute will therefore be offering a new 20% discount to electronic toll subscribers who pay with holiday vouchers. A meeting is scheduled next week at the Ministry of Transport for the other dealers to follow suit.
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