the increase will be “reasonable” in 2023, promises Clément Beaune

The annual increase in motorway prices should remain “reasonable” at the start of 2023, the Minister Delegate for Transport said on Friday on franceinfo. “I want a reasonable increase but it will not be in the order of magnitude of 7-8%”, indicated Clément Beaune. Motorway tolls increase every year, usually on February 1, according to a calculation that takes into account the rate of inflation and the work undertaken by the concession companies.

A 2% increase in prices on average in 2022

According to the daily The world, motorway companies have mentioned an increase of up to 8% in ongoing discussions with the Ministry of Transport. The rate increase was 2% on average this year. “If we applied things automatically, we could have very high increases”, in this order of magnitude, and it would be “unsustainable”, indicated Clément Beaune on the radio.

The president of senators LR Bruno Retailleau said on Friday “stunned by the indecency of motorway companies which are demanding an 8% increase in tolls” in 2023. “In the midst of a crisis of purchasing power for the French already strangled by the price of gasoline (…) this request is scandalous”, revealed Bruno Retailleau in a press release.

Don’t stop investing in security

The Minister of Transport stressed that “the use of the car will cost more, it is inevitable, in the years to come”. But “what we pay to the highways is investment, I don’t want them to stop investing in safety,” he stressed. Bruno Retailleau, president of the LR group in the Senate and candidate for the presidency of the party, indicated for his part that he wanted to “rebalance” the “outrageously favorable” conditions which these companies “won when the State granted them our public highway service” .

Bruno Retailleau filed a proposal for legal contracts last year “to review motorway companies and ensure a balanced sharing of profits between users, licensing authorities and concessionaires”. This text has not yet been placed on the Senate’s agenda. The main motorway networks made a small gesture this summer in agreement of up to 25 euros in reductions on toll expenses paid in holiday vouchers, while the rise in fuel prices weighed down the holiday budget.

After reaching 5.8% this year, inflation next year is projected to range between 4.2% and 6.9%.