The “resilience plan” did not convince everyone. And particularly the road sector, strongly impacted by the rise in fuel prices. To enable them to cope with the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, Jean Castex presented a series of measures for businesses on Wednesday. On the program, announcements on the soaring prices of energy and raw materials, but also on the objective of making the French economy less dependent on Russia.
Among the specific aids put on the table, the government has announced that it is committed to ensuring that the discount of 15 centimes per liter, applied from April 1, “will not affect the level of diesel indexing for 4 months”. “This represents 1,500 euros on a full truck over this period from April 1,” said Jean Castex. “For this road transport sector which depends on the significant increase in fuel, I asked the Minister of Transport to bring together road transport players for additional help on the shortfalls of recent weeks. »
Measures that the Organization of European Road Carriers (OTRE) found largely “insufficient”. The latter was quick to react and invited its member companies to mobilize « from March 21 »in a statement released Wednesday.
Financial aid in a “very short” time frame
To cope with the soaring fuel prices, the OTRE urges the government in particular to propose « direct and additional financial aid per vehicle”, within “very short” deadlines. According to her, this aid would be the only one “able to meet the expectations of its member companies. ».
The organization, however, wanted to thank the government for the gesture, saying that it “welcomed” these announcements. “The OTRE nevertheless notes the Prime Minister’s desire to bring together the Professional Organizations around the Delegate Minister of Transport to define the terms of additional aid for the losses of recent weeks”, can we read on the press release.
It should be noted that the new measures announced on Wednesday by Jean Castex supplement the tariff shield put in place since the fall by the government to limit the impact of the rise in gas and electricity prices on households and businesses, at a cost already approaching 20 billion euros.