Elisabeth Borne wants aid for the French

In the second quarter of 2022, Total made 5.7 billion euros in profits. This is 2.5 times more than over the same period last year. This is explained in particular by the surge in oil prices that began at the end of 2021 but accentuated by the war in Ukraine, enough to relaunch the debate on a tax targeting what some call superprofits. Proposed by the left for a few weeks but challenged in the Assembly, it is refused by the government. For its part, Total granted a discount of 20 cents per liter of fuel.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne believes there is no reason to impose a tax. “Rather than leaving superprofits and then going to tax, we are asking these companies to help us, to help the French who today, with inflation, may have difficulties in purchasing power “, she says. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, supported this position Thursday, July 29 in the Senate. On the left, the elected camp on their positions. They are calling for a tax on these superprofits which would impose a minimum of 30% on profits over one billion euros. Total is not the only company to see its profits explode: the British company Shell made three times more profits than the French oil company. The Marseilles maritime carrier CMA CGM posted seven billion euros of profit in the first quarter.