France to cut diesel/gasoline tax gap for companies' car fleets

PARIS (Reuters) - France will offer companies the same tax credit when they buy gasoline cars than the one currently allowed for diesel cars, its energy minister said on Thursday, removing a key tax break that had boosted sales of diesel cars in the past. "We are going to give gasoline the same tax benefit that diesel currently has," Segolene Royal told France 2 television. "We won't remove diesel's benefit to take into account the importance of the diesel industry and give it enough time to transition towards clean transportation," she said. She added that the new tax discount will take effect gradually over the next two years but did not disclose the cost of the new measure. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Mathieu Rosemain)