France’s National Assembly rejected a tax on windfall profits in a closed vote today, as pressure mounts to tax energy and transport companies that have benefited from rising prices, Bloomberg reported.
As they debated an update to this year’s budget bill, 114 members of the lower house rejected amendments that would have introduced an extraordinary tax on so-called “excess profits” from companies such as TotalEnergies, Engie and shipping company CMA CGM. The tax was proposed by the Left and supported by 96 MPs, including one from Emmanuel Macron’s coalition. Some MPs from Macron’s party have been in favor of such a tax, but abstained during the vote.
On Friday, Total and CMA CGM said they would grant rebates on fuel and freight rates in France, bowing to political pressure for measures to cushion the impact of inflation and address calls for an emergency tax. While the government did not back the tax, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had called on the two companies to do more to help consumers and welcomed the companies’ announcements, saying the pressure on the companies was “effective”.
Since losing his absolute majority in the lower house of parliament last month, Macron has been forced to seek ad-hoc coalitions to pass legislation. It passed its first test earlier this week, with measures aimed at protecting households from rising inflation passed with support from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Alarm party and the conservative Les Republicains.
Today lawmakers also agreed to abolish the TV license fee and fund media outlets such as France 24 or France Inter through value added tax. Other measures on the National Assembly’s agenda include funding the full nationalization of energy company Electricite de France, as well as cuts in fuel prices and energy subsidies.
Debates will continue over the weekend and the legislation still needs to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate.
Source: Capital
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