Oct 15 2014
French prime minister seeks to defuse toll roads row
France's prime minister sought to defuse a row over road tolls and keep billions of euros of motorway renovation work on track on Tuesday, meeting worried concession bosses after one of his team threatened to slap a new tax on them.
Government criticism of "excessive" tariffs and the profits of toll road operators privatised under the previous administration comes as the highly unpopular ruling Socialists try to shake off accusations from the left that their efforts to be business friendly are hurting household spending power.
Shares in concession operators dropped sharply last week when Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron voiced concerns about the high toll road tariffs they charged.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls described his meeting with the concession firms as "fruitful" -- although he declined to give any details. He said he believed their issues could be resolved in the coming weeks, adding: "I think we can move quickly provided we work for the common good."
Environment Minister Segolene Royal has raised the prospect of an additional levy on the companies, which include Vinci , Eiffage and SANEF, a unit of Spain's Abertis.
The minister's aim was to make up for an "ecotax" on heavy trucks, which was scrapped last week following opposition from truckers even as the government hunts for additional revenues to reduce its ballooning deficit.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin initially cast doubt on Royal's tax idea, saying such a move might allow the companies concerned to claim compensation from the government under the terms of their concession contracts.
But in an interview with Les Echos newspaper on Tuesday he said a tax was a "good idea", adding that the firms had been privatised under conditions that were "too favourable" to them.
Valls confirmed the European Commission had given the green light to a multi-billion dollar package of work the companies have committed to carry out to upgrade France's motorways.
The plan was signed in September 2013 for a total 3.6 billion euros ($4.6 billion) worth of work in exchange for extensions of the companies' concession periods. Read more
Source: REUTERS