French people who have meal vouchers can breathe a sigh of relief, in this context inflationary. L’National Assembly urgently adopted this Thursday the extension until the end of 2024 of an exemption which allows them to be used to purchase all products foodeven those that are not directly consumable.
This broad vote of the Assembly (117 for, 1 against) will still have to be confirmed in the Senate. This exemption, which was to end on December 31, 2023, allows some 5.4 million employees in France to use their “restaurant vouchers” to purchase non-consumable products on the shelves that must be prepared (flour, pasta, rice, meat). , etc.).
A measure against food inflation
On the benches of ministers, Olivia Grégoire (Trade) once again supported the extension of the system, while “food inflation is significant even if it has continued to decline for several months”. The minister and the majority deputies who tabled the text, on the other hand, warned against a broader enlargement or a longer exemption.
Recognizing that the Assembly was legislating “urgently” approximately one month before the extinction of the exemption, the president of the Economic Affairs Committee Guillaume Kasbarian (Renaissance) called for adopting the text as it stands to find a solution. rapid agreement in the Senate. If the oppositions largely adopted the measure, they all deplored a delayed reaction.
A government “taken by surprise”
Thibault Bazin (LR) even denounced an “attempt to rewrite history” by the government, in favor of the measure even though it did not propose including it in its 2024 draft budget. Benjamin Lucas (ecological group ) castigated the “amateurism” of the government “each time taken by surprise”.
“You manage to present to us [cette dérogation] like a gift, but meal vouchers are not a gift,” thundered Sophia Chikirou (LFI), arguing that they were partly financed by employees, and criticizing the commissions received by the managing companies. The Assembly rejected amendments from the left or the RN aimed at extending or perpetuating the exemption.
A broader reform to come?
Olivia Gregoire promised a discussion in the “first half of 2024” for a broader reform of meal vouchers. THE restaurateurs are particularly concerned about an even greater shift in the use of these tickets towards mass distribution, to their detriment.
Continuing its use for food shopping would risk causing the loss of the device, the national commission for meal vouchers, a joint body which supervises this means of payment, warned on Tuesday.