Is it possible to block gasoline prices, as proposed by Eric Zemmour? Yes !

When we talk about purchasing power, one of the main concerns of the French in view of the presidential election, the question of fuel prices is never far away. As a result of the war in Ukraine, the prices displayed in service stations are constantly increasing. During his meeting in Toulon, Sunday March 6, the candidate Eric Zemmour wished to respond to this concern by proposing to block the prices at the pump.

“The State must guarantee each Frenchman a decent price […]. I will freeze fuel prices at their pre-crisis level, i.e. 1.8 euros per liter, the time necessary for the implementation of a ceasefire, ”announced the Reconquest candidate.

Faced with the threat of a new oil shock, I will freeze the price of fuel at 1.80 euros per litre!#fuels pic.twitter.com/4YfZJC8UDY

— Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) March 7, 2022

An announcement on which he returned the next day on the set of RMC and BFMTV. Describing it as an “emergency measure”, Eric Zemmour recalled: “Pierre Bérégovoy [alors ministre de l’Economie] had done it in 1991 at the time of the Gulf War […], for five weeks. »

If he is elected president, will Eric Zemmour really be able to put such a measure in place? 20 minutes make the point.

FAKE OFF

In France, prices are regulated by article L410-2 of the Commercial Code, which provides that the “prices of goods, products and services” are freely determined by “the game of competition”. However, the government can decide to block certain prices “by decree in Council of State”. But under what conditions ? “A crisis situation, exceptional circumstances, a public calamity or a manifestly abnormal market situation in a specific sector”, lists the article, which provides that the period of validity of this decree cannot exceed six months.

Precedents

As Eric Zemmour indicated in his interview with Apolline de Malherbe, this measure was already taken during the Gulf War. In August 1990, when Iraq had just invaded Kuwait, the Minister of the Economy at the time, Pierre Bérégovoy, proposed freezing fuel prices. Validated by the Council of State, the price freeze will last five weeks. During the 2012 campaign, the future tenant of the Elysée, François Hollande, made it a campaign measure. But if the price of fuel was already reaching record prices at the time, the context then did not justify the publication of a decree.

In view of the ballot on April 10 and 24, several candidates are proposing similar measures. Last February, during his meeting in Montpellier – i.e. before the start of the war in Ukraine – the candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) for example supported the blocking of “all prices [de produits] first need “. During his first campaign trip to Poissy on Monday, Emmanuel Macron for his part promised that government aid for gasoline would be “improved” around “the mileage allowance and inflation allowance approach”.