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DRIVING

French government extends fuel rebate for motorists

After several difficult weeks for motorists as strikes at oil refineries led to widespread fuel shortages, France's Prime Minister has announced the extension of the fuel rebate for drivers.

Published: 17 October 2022 11:13 CEST
French government extends fuel rebate for motorists
A French government sign reads "You benefit from a 30 cents discount on a liter of fuel" next to another sign reading "out of order" on gas pumps at a TotalEnergies gas station in Montpellier, southern France, on October 5, 2022. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on TF1 on Monday that the current 30-cents-per-litre fuel rebate – which helps motorists counter high fuel prices – will be extended past November 1st.

The €0.30 fuel rebate was due to drop to €0.10 on November 1st, but will remain in place “until mid-November” according to the prime minister. Additionally, the company-offered discount of €0.20 by TotalEnergies will also be extended, though the timeline for this was not specified by the prime minister.

Nevertheless, after the fifteen days of extension, the benefit, which is applied directly at the pump, will drop down to €0.10 as intended, and it will end at the end of the year.

The rebate is paid by the government to filling stations, and means that drivers are charged the price including the discount when they pay at the pump.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed on Monday on BFMTV that the benefit would indeed stop in 2023.

“It will not be extended past January 1st, 2023. The 15 day extension [in November] is because there are difficulties in the service stations, which everyone can understand.

Everyone will also understand that we can not continue giving a subsidy to fossil fuels,” Le Maire told BFTMV. He added that doing so would contradict the government’s “decarbonisation objectives” and the “acceleration of the ecological transition.”

The announcements by the prime minister and finance minister came amid ongoing strike action by refinery workers.

On Friday, the CFDT and CFE-CGC unions representing striking workers at TotalEnergies announced they had come to an agreement regarding salary increases – specifically a seven percent pay increase and a bonus between of €3,000 to 6,000, according to France Televisions.

The CGT union, however, refused the offer, opting to continue industrial action.

According to a representative for the CGT, Catherine Perret, the CGT workers are in the majority at oil refineries.

“Between 60 and 80 percent of refinery employees are striking,” Perret told Franceinfo. Additionally, the strike action by CGT employees at refineries has spread to other sectors, with an inter-sector strike protesting the government’s use of worker requisitions. The social movement will occur on Tuesday across France.

READ MORE: Trains, schools and bins: What to expect from Tuesday’s strikes in France

As of Saturday, 27.3 percent of fuel stations were still considered “in difficulty” – that is to say, lacking at least one type of fuel at their station. This is an improvement from earlier in the week, where over 30 percent of fuel stations nationwide remained impacted by shortages.

Specifically, the areas that remained most impacted were Hauts-de-France, the Paris region, and Centre Val de Loire, according to the Minister of Environment Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

The minister specified that 22 percent of stations in Hauts-de-France, 39.9 percent in the Paris region, and 36.4 percent in Centre Val de Loire were still experiencing shortages as of Saturday. 

“In response to ongoing strike action, the Prime Minister Borne also threatened new requisitions of employees, in the case of “very strained situations.”

She added during the interview with TF1 that continued mobilisation by TotalEnergies employees was “unacceptable” and asked strikers “not to block the country”.

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DRIVING

EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

The EU has agreed to extend the number of driving offences for which motorists from other member states can be fined for and to make it easier for authorities to chase up the fines and make foreign drivers pay.

Published: 13 May 2024 17:28 CEST
EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

In the last voting session of this term, in April, the European Parliament passed new rules to ensure drivers who breach local traffic rules in another EU member state are found and fined.

The cross-border enforcement (CBE) directive was first adopted in 2015 after it was found that non-resident drivers were more likely to commit speeding offences. The European Commission estimated that in 2008, foreign drivers accounted for about 5 percent of road traffic in the EU but committed around 15 percent of speeding offences.

The directive partially improved the situation, but according to the Commission 40 percent of traffic violations committed in other EU countries are still unpunished “because the offender is not identified or because the fine is not enforced”.

In March 2023, the Commission therefore proposed updating existing measures.

New rules extend the type of offences that will trigger assistance from another member state and seek to improve collaboration among national authorities to identify and fine offenders.

The European Parliament and Council agreed in March on the final text of the directive, which is now being formally approved by the two institutions.

André Sobczak, Secretary-General at Eurocities, a group representing European cities in Brussels, said: “While the final outcome of the discussions is not ideal, we are pleased that EU policymakers have at least put the issue of the enforcement of local traffic rules on foreign vehicles on the table. As we approach an election year, I believe such a practical example can demonstrate why a European approach is necessary to address local issues.”

Which traffic offences are covered?

The previous directive covered eight driving misconducts that would require member states to cooperate: speeding, not wearing seat belts, failing to stop at a red traffic light, drink-driving, driving under the effect of drugs, not wearing a helmet (motorcycles / scooters), using a forbidden lane and using a mobile phone or other communication devices while driving.

The Commission proposed to add to the list not keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking, crossing one or more solid white lines, driving the wrong way down a one way street, not respecting the rules on “emergency corridors” (a clear lane intended for priority vehicles), and using an overloaded vehicle.

The Parliament and Council agreed to these and added more offences: not giving way to emergency service vehicles, not respecting access restrictions or rules at a rail crossings, as well as hit-and-run offences.

Despite calls from European cities, the new directive does not cover offences related to foreign drivers avoiding congestion charges or low emission zones. In such cases, information about vehicle registration can only be shared among countries with bilateral agreements.

Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General at POLIS, a network of cities and regions working on urban transport, called on the next European Commission to take other local traffic offences, such as breaches of low emission zones, “fully at heart”.

Collaboration among national authorities

For the traffic violations covered by the directive, EU countries have to help each other to find the liable driver. The new directive further clarifies how.

Member states will have to use the European vehicle and driving licence information system (Eucaris) to get the data of the offender.

National authorities will have 11 months from the date of the violation to issue the fine to a vehicle from another EU member state. However, they will not have to resort to agencies or private entities to collect the fine. This was requested by the European Parliament to avoid scams or leaks of personal data.

Authorities in the country of the offender will have to reply to requests from another EU member state within two months.

When the amount of the fine is more than €70, and all options to have it paid have been exhausted, the member state where the violation occurred can ask the country of the offender to take over the collection.

The person concerned will be able to request follow-up documents in a different official EU language.

When will the new rules will be enforced?

Now that the EU Parliament has passed the law, the EU Council has to do the same, although there is no date set for when that will happen. Once the directive is adopted, EU countries will have 30 months to prepare for implementation.

Last year the Commission also proposed a new directive on driving licenses, but negotiations on the final text of this file will only take place after the European elections.

This article has been produced in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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