Tax on superprofits: France says it is ready to work with its European partners

France is "ready to work with its partners" on the establishment of a tax at European level on the superprofits of oil groups, government spokesperson and Minister for Energy, Maud Bregeon, indicated on Wednesday September 23 on franceinfo. This taxation is particularly demanded by the left and several European countries, notably Germany, to fight against the rise in fuel prices.

“France is in no way blocking this initiative,” assures the government spokesperson who had already spoken on the subject in April. She specifies that the French government was the first to say that "if taxation were to be carried out, it would be on a European scale" and that "if there were proven superprofits and a way of responding to them on a European scale, obviously we would be ready to work on it", continues the minister.

Raphaël Glucksmann is lying, according to Maud Bregeon

Guest of franceinfo on Monday, presidential election candidate Raphaël Glucksmann, who is calling for a tax on superprofits, assured that the government is not in favor of it because, according to the MEP, it "does not want to offend TotalEnergies" and its CEO. “What Raphaël Glucksmann said on your set is a lie [...] It is very serious and not at the level of a presidential candidate,” reacts Maud Bregeon.

Last May, the CEO of the TotalEnergies group, Patrick Pouyanné, threatened to lift his cap on fuel prices if a tax on exceptional oil profits was introduced. Is this why the government refuses to support the implementation of this tax? “We are not entering into a game of blackmail neither with Mr. Pouyanné nor with anyone else,” replies Maud Bregeon.

The government spokesperson recalls that last year, France "put in place a 7.5 billion corporate tax surcharge." “We were very harshly criticized for this by the companies affected with bosses who did not fail to appear on TV sets and yet we put it in place because we felt that it was a sharing of the effort which, given the budgetary situation, was fair.” Maud Bregeon nevertheless believes that "this ceiling is a good thing [...] which benefits the purchasing power of the French, so we are trying to move forward and work intelligently", concludes the minister.