Macron does not rule out a reduction in fuel taxes if prices continue to rise

Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he did not rule out lowering fuel taxes if the surge in prices continued, while asserting that it would be preferable to lower prices using diplomatic means. “I think that depending on developments, nothing should be excluded,” said the President of the Republic during an interview on France 2 and TF1, while judging that a reduction in taxes was “not the most virtuous decision” because they “are used to finance state spending”.

Also read Russian threat, fuel prices, 2027 presidential election: what to remember from Emmanuel Macron's interview on TF1 and France 2

“Our interest is rather to lower prices before lowering taxes,” he added, also believing that the ban on exports of American diesel, as Donald Trump said he was in favor of, would be a “bad” decision, “not just for the rest of the world, for the American economy too”.

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Emmanuel Macron also assured “not to regret at all” “whatever it costs”, namely the public aid put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic which increased France’s debt, today reducing its budgetary room for maneuver.

The head of state affirmed that the spending of the “last ten years” was broken down into “a third to protect the French from crises”, “a third to prepare France for the future”, and “a third because we have not reformed the social model enough”. “I don’t regret anything from the first two thirds. I regret not having been efficient and quick enough on the last one,” he said.