France | Taxation of motorway and airport companies: the Constitutional Council validates the measure

The verdict is in. The Constitutional Council on Thursday validated a new tax on long-distance transport infrastructure intended to finance the ecological transition to the tune of 600 million euros and which was contested by airport and motorway management companies.

The Sages of the Palais-Royal considered that this tax, which only applies from a certain threshold of turnover and profitability, did not constitute a breach of equality with other operators of transport infrastructures, nor an “excessive burden in relation to their ability to pay”.

A tax in the name of “ecological transition”

The Constitutional Council had been seized via a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) by several French airport managers, including the Société Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur (Nice), the ADP group (Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly) but also the UAF. The motorway company Area, a subsidiary of the Eiffage group, was also among the applicants.

They believe that the tax, which only applies to companies with a turnover of at least 120 million euros and an average profitability threshold of 10%, creates “unjustified differences in treatment between taxpayers”. The combination of this tax with corporate tax also results in “a confiscatory level of collection”, according to these companies.

All proceeds from this new tax decided in the 2024 budget by Bercy, in the name of the ecological transition, must be added to the budget of the Transport Infrastructure Financing Agency (Afit). Three-quarters would be provided by the motorway sector and one-quarter by the air sector, because only the largest airports (Orly and Roissy, Nice, Marseille and Lyon) are concerned.

Threat of toll price increase

“It is ultimately a levy of nearly 150 million euros per year on the airports concerned,” said Thomas Juin. “This tax, this taxation which is increasing substantially, would have the consequence of reducing the investment programs of these airports,” he added.

Vinci Autoroutes estimated that the tax would cost it 280 million euros for the year 2024. Motorway companies have also threatened to significantly increase toll prices in 2025 to compensate for this new tax, which the government disputes. Toll rates are calculated on the basis of inflation and the motorway companies’ investment plans.