The price of petrol in France is approaching 2.50 euros per litre.

Omissions

• Petrol prices had indeed risen over 2026 (petrol up about 7–8% over the previous three months), so the direction of the claim is correct, but the level claimed is substantially overstated.
• No source shows French petrol approaching €2.50/l; the all-time series maximum recorded for petrol was about €2.15–2.22/l in September 2026, and even diesel (a different, more expensive fuel) remained around €2.33–2.40/l.
• The MEP conflates 'essence' (petrol) with the overall cost of driving; the figure closest to €2.50 concerns no standard fuel sold at the national average in France at that date.
• No primary official source (French government prix-carburants.gouv.fr or European Commission Weekly Oil Bulletin) was retrieved directly; the verdict rests on several independent secondary trackers that compile the same official pump-price data.

Sources

• Secondaryfuel-prices.eu — FranceAs of 21 Sept 2026, the price of Euro 95 petrol in France is €2.219 per litre (€8.40 per US gallon) and diesel is €2.383 per litre (€9.02 per US gallon). This is 13.3% above the EU average of €1.959/L for petrol and 11.5% above the EU average of €2.138/L for diesel.
• SecondaryGlobalPetrolPrices.com — France gasoline pricesWe show Octane-95 gasoline price data for France from 2016-10-10 to 2026-09-21. The average gasoline price during that period is EUR 1.62 per liter with a minimum of EUR 1.24 on 2020-05-04 and a maximum of EUR 2.15 on 2026-09-21.
• Secondarymon-carburant.com — Prix moyen carburant FrancePrix moyen du gazole en France en septembre 2026: 2,332 €/L. SP95-E10 à 2,138 €/L, SP98 à 2,235 €/L. Moyenne du mois et historique quotidien. (En septembre 2026, le gazole coûte en moyenne 2,330 €/L en France ... le SP95-E10 est à 2,137 €/L et le SP98 à 2,234 €/L.)
• Secondaryfuelwide.com — France Fuel Prices Today (citing European Commission Weekly Oil Bulletin)As of 7 September 2026, petrol 95 in France averages €2.12/L, the volume-weighted national average. Source: Weekly Oil Bulletin, European Commission, DG Energy (a government publication, published weekly).
• SecondaryAtlas Automobiles — Prix du carburant 2026Au relevé du 16 septembre 2026, le gazole atteint environ 2,352 €/l, contre 2,152 €/l pour le SP95-E10. Un plein de 50 litres représente 117,60 € en diesel et 107,60 € en E10.