Neither “a statement in the air”, nor “a good intention”, (re) assures Clément Beaune. The Minister in charge of Transport wants to be formal. Taxing motorway companies more will not, according to him, have any consequences on the portfolio of motorists. For the deputy of the 7th district of Paris, this tax measure would meet the “need to invest massively in the ecological transition”. For this, “one of the sources of financing is to ask the most polluting, most carbon-intensive modes of transport – the road, the plane – to finance investments in the train”, he specifies this Monday at the microphone of FranceInfo.
A file that would already be in the pipes. “There is a discussion on the taxation of motorway companies, just as there is a discussion on the taxation of plane tickets”, advances the minister. “The road is still the most important mode of daily transport, it’s a reality and it will remain so for the years to come for most of our fellow citizens”, recognizes Clément Beaune. Hence the need to “still preserve the purchasing power” of motorists. Fortunately, “if there is taxation on motorway companies, it does not affect the tolls paid by motorists”, insists the minister.
The reason ? “Toll price changes are provided for in long-term contracts between the state and the motorway companies,” says Clément Beaune. Before continuing “It is legally planned like that. The contracts do not allow the motorway companies to say one fine morning “I am increasing the tolls because I consider that I am paying too much in taxes”. If the Minister refutes the argument of a mechanical increase in toll prices due to new taxation, he nevertheless recognizes that “every year there is a discussion independent of all that on the level of tolls”.
In fact, the State does have a right to oversee and regulate the prices charged by motorway concession companies. Each year, on February 1, the latter increase their prices by at least 70% of the inflation of the previous year. In 2023, the average price of tolls had thus inflated by almost 5%. Added to this is another possibility of an increase provided for by the agreement between the State and the motorway companies, specifies the specialized site auto-moto.com. As the toll rate takes into account the maintenance costs borne by the concessionaire, the cost of major work could be passed on to motorists.