She struggles with her lighter, struggles with the wind and the pouring rain, ends up asking someone for help. Under the terrible November weather, Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs, Commerce and Tourism, is struggling to light her cigarette. Its scope is rather to put out fires in the middle of a media storm. Latest firefighter number on duty: his intervention Tuesday evening on M6, to clear up the explosive issue of meal vouchers. The summer 2022 amendment – which allows you to pay for all your food shopping this way, to fight inflation – expired on December 31, 2023.
Problem is, if food inflation has fallen, it remains significant, concedes the minister this Thursday, during the return trip that we spend with her after her trip to Indre-et-Loire for the “simplification meetings”. It was therefore decided to extend the current system for one year, until December 31, 2024. Enough to avoid a new major APL-style controversy? “The difference is that the decision was already made for the APL and we had to take responsibility for it. There, we were able to quickly arbitrate on a feverish subject, reassure the French and dispel misunderstandings.”
Is this just a reprieve until next year? “It’s always easier to open an exemption than to close it, that’s for sure,” admits Olivia Grégoire. “Restaurateurs are making their voices heard and we are going to discuss with them as part of a global reform that I am leading for 2025-2026, in order to modernize the meal voucher.” She gives her personal opinion on the subject: “I am liberal, quite in favor of bothering employees as little as possible, particularly with meal vouchers, and that we give them the freedom to use them differently in a period or inflation still remains high even if it falls.”
“In politics, you can’t win on purchasing power”
This damn price increase sticks to Bercy’s skin, like raindrops on car windows. The receipt, a losing battle for the government? “You have to be very lucid and humble on this subject when you’re in politics: you can’t win politically on purchasing power, because people always have the feeling of not having enough, and that’s normal. . »
The very capricious weather of the day is the occasion for a new metaphor: “In politics as in life, it is always the feeling that takes precedence: if the weather forecast announces that it is 14°C but the feeling is of 6°C, then you wear a down jacket. We may take all the actions in the world, but if the French do not feel their effects, then we must change public action. »
“The French are not ungrateful, they are very demanding”
However, the executive is stacking price shields, energy checks, extension of meal vouchers… “The French are not ungrateful, they are very demanding, and they are right to be so”, she immediately clears the air, as as usual. And it is not the comparison with other European countries, where inflation was on average (much) higher in 2022, which will satisfy the population. The minister, who has seen others in politics, knows this well: “There is no point in saying that it is worse in Spain or in England, the French are impervious to these arguments. We don’t really like to compare ourselves in France, that’s also part of our charm. »
A Sisyphean struggle then. But like her driver, the minister is determined to brave the storm: “I entered politics in 2002, just after Lionel Jospin’s failure in the first round of the presidential election. For me, he lost in particular on his admission of failure: “we tried everything against unemployment”. I built myself after that. It gave me the conviction that I must always fight, never give up. On inflation we try, we innovate, we propose, and we will not stop doing it. »
The 2024 Olympics, a finally happy prospect
A position where you must constantly respond to crises, as with your former role as government spokesperson. The opportunity to pay flowers to his successor, Olivier Véran: “He is a politician with a lot of experience. He has been an exemplary Minister of Health during the Covid-19 crisis, and he carries the government’s word with courage and clarity, even in difficult times. » Difficult moments that she knows are numerous: “We underestimate the extent to which these two five-year terms are five-year terms of crisis. »
Will a piece of sky break through the gray? Time for one last subject, a more exciting perspective. The Paris Olympic Games in 2024. “We haven’t hosted a Summer Olympics in a century! We are going to experience an exceptional moment of great happiness and national fervor. » A media fire extinguished, a cigarette lit, and an Olympic flame.