Great controversy in France on account of the . The French Government has suggested that it could launch a plan to regulate gas station profit margins. And the companies have gone up in arms.
The Executive, in response to the great increase in fuel prices in recent weeks as a result of the war in the Middle East and, especially, the closure of the , has expressed its intention to approve a plan that limits gas station profits.
Las main distributors have responded to this announcement from the Government of France by sending a letter to the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornuin which they have frontally shown their opposition to measures that may affect their benefits.
In the document, to which Agence France-Presse (AFP) has had access, the leaders of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD) have expressed that “we firmly oppose the draft decree relating to the regulation of retail fuel prices. “This text is unfair, inapplicable and illegal.”
As reported by the French media the letter has been signed by the leaders of Carrefour, Auchan, Intermarché, Leclerc and Cooperative Uthat is, the five main retail chains in the country.
“Our profit margins on fuel are 1 to 2 cents per liter”
In the letter sent to Lecornu, the distributors have assured that “Our profit margins on fuel are 1 to 2 cents per literthey barely cover operating costs.”
In this regard, the companies have argued that “it is the refineries-distributors that have gained considerable gross margins since the beginning of the conflict in Iran.” In that sense, the companies that sign the document have stressed that the French Government’s draft decree “imposes absolutely nothing on those refineries-distributors that are really benefiting.”
