In a between-two rounds dominated by the question of purchasing power, the two candidates for the Elysée insist on their measures of access to basic necessities.
Purchasing power has become one of the main concerns of the French in recent months. Behind energy prices, the spectacular rise of which has fueled political debates in recent weeks, another question relating to purchasing power has come to the fore in the home stretch of this campaign: access to basic necessities, such as certain foodstuffs whose prices are rising because of the war in Ukraine. Although their increase remains much more modest than that on energy, basic necessities are the subject of specific measures in the programs of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
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As she hammers it according to her campaign trips and her media interventions, the candidate of the National Rally proposes to modify the taxation with an exemption from VAT around a hundred basic necessities that she presents as transitory in the face of the return of the ‘inflation. The list of these products is not yet exhaustive, even if Marine Le Pen indicated on BFMTV that “salt, pepper, oil, pasta, sanitary napkins, diapers” will be affected.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron puts forward the idea of a food check “to help the most modest households and the middle classes to meet these additional costs” of food in what he considers to be a “global food crisisin a March interview at France Blue. The president-candidate confirmed that the payment of the check would be made “under conditions”. Its potential cost is estimated by the Montaigne Institute at two billion euros. However, the other terms of such a food check have not been specified, whether it is its amount, the frequency of payments or the food eligible for this aid.
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Contours still blurred
The contours of the proposals of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen on basic necessities therefore remain imprecise. “By remaining evasive and by not giving a clear list of basic necessities which will benefit from aid, the candidates avoid useless controversies and keep room for maneuver to adapt to the uncertain economic situation. It is not yet known which products will increase. There are increases that we do not suspect, that we cannot anticipate,” analyzes Jérôme Mathis, professor of economics at Paris-Dauphine University.
Marine Le Pen addresses her measure to all French people since each household will benefit from the reduction in VAT. Emmanuel Macron opts for a measure aimed at certain categories. “Economically, the food check makes it possible to directly reach the precarious people who need it most, where Marine Le Pen casts a wider net since the VAT exemption benefits everyone, including those who do not need it. », notes the economist Jérôme Mathis.
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The latter also believes that the food voucher offers more flexibility than the reduction in VAT. If Marine Le Pen touts her VAT reduction as temporary, “It is very unpopular to go back once we have decided on a reduction in VAT. A VAT exemption is more binding and has a more lasting weight in public finances than the payment of a cheque”.
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