Perhaps for the first time in recent history, the cause of mass protests was the increase in fuel prices. In contrast to the serious riots in Paris in 2005, when mostly migrants crashed windows and burned cars, this time ordinary Frenchmen take part in large-scale protests - the middle class is indignant at the rising prices for gasoline and diesel fuel. The last straw that overflowed the patience was the government’s decision to further increase taxes on “harmful” diesel fuel from January 1, which would increase the price of diesel fuel by about 5% - by only 7.5 euro cents per liter.
Are the French really so tight? Yes and no. Automobile fuel prices in France have been seriously increasing since 2013, and faster than in other European countries. Over the past year, they have risen by 20-22%. And last October, a historic event took place: the price of diesel fuel was equal to the price of gasoline, and then exceeded them by 20 eurocents. For France, where, consider, every second car (about 47.5%) is a diesel, this is akin to a disaster. (There are as many gasoline engines in the country as diesel ones, about 3.3% are hybrids, the remaining miserable ones are electric cars.) For many years, from the beginning of the nineties, diesel was presented as a more environmentally friendly version of ICE. Diesel fuel was significantly cheaper than gasoline, and a diesel car was noticeably more economical. On the circle - profitable! Even taking into account the fact that a diesel car is more expensive than a similar gasoline one.
And suddenly - you have to shell out. Moreover, in the near future real harassment will be deployed on diesel cars. The authorities of Nice want to introduce a ban on their entry into the city already in 2020, and in Paris they will be given a 2024-meter turn from the gate. The ban will be introduced in stages: first for cars manufactured in 2001-2005, then for younger ones. And by 2030 it is planned to completely prohibit the entry into Paris of cars with any ICE - diesel and gasoline.
In France, taxes are 66% in the price of a liter of gasoline, and 59% in diesel fuel. In Russia, as of May 2018, the share of taxes in a liter of AI 92 reached 70%. In Russia, not so long ago, the 95th gasoline cost 41–42 rubles, and now it’s already 45 rubles, for six months prices have jumped 5%. For three years - by 24%.
The goal is to transplant the French to cleaner transport, ideally to electric cars. The goal is good. But only a small fraction of the country's inhabitants can afford an electric car - even taking into account tax preferences. How to transfer 90% of motorists to green transport in such a short time? France will either set an example for everyone, or backtrack.
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The second interesting point is that among the 25 basic requirements put forward by the "yellow vests", from tax reform to leaving the European Union and introducing the national currency, there is a requirement to immediately remove photo and video cameras of traffic violations from the roads. These cameras, as “Protestants” say, do not affect traffic safety in any way, but are only a means of extorting a veiled tax. I am sure that this statement has both supporters and opponents. Both will be found in Russia. In my opinion, cameras are still beneficial - if they are installed in emergency places, and not so as to collect the largest number of fines in areas that are obviously difficult for drivers and to replenish local budgets.