Laura Laplaud
modified to
9:23 a.m., November 15, 2023
After choosing to extend into 2024 the possibility of paying for all food shopping with meal vouchers, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, guest of La Grande interview Europe 1-CNews , declared himself in favor of a “more global reflection” on their use.
This is an exemption which was to end on January 1, 2024: that of the use of meal vouchers extended to all food products. An emergency measure for the protection of purchasing power put in place in August 2022 and which allowed French people to use their restaurant vouchers to buy products such as flour, pasta, rice, eggs or even fish and meat. But this deadline has raised a real eyebrow in the political sphere, denouncing the government’s disconnection in the face of food prices which continue to increase.
“Nothing will change,” assured Minister for Commerce Olivia Grégoire on Tuesday. Guest of La Grande interview Europe 1-CNews, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, confirmed these remarks. “We proposed with Olivia Grégoire to extend the use of restaurant vouchers for the purchase of food in stores so we are going to do it and we will do it by law because it requires a legislative provision,” he said. -he declares.
“I don’t like reversals, there is no about-face”
Meal vouchers are used today by more than 5 million employees to pay for meals or food services. At Sonia Mabrouk’s microphone, Bruno Le Maire assured that it was not a “turnaround”. “We have always been in favor of this extension, quite simply because it makes life easier for the French. I don’t like reversals, there is no about-face and in any case. It was a decision of the Senate to stop it until December 31, 2023 and it is a decision of the government to extend it for a year,” he said.
“We need to open up a more global reflection on the purchase of food products with meal vouchers”
Furthermore, Bruno Le Maire declared himself in favor of perpetuating this measure, beyond 2024. “I think that we need to open up a more global reflection. Should we not use restaurant vouchers in a more general way for the purchase of food products? Shouldn’t we even change the name ‘restaurant voucher’ which is a little misleading? If employees find it good , if it is necessary to initiate a more in-depth reform, I am ready to look at that. I am ready for us to open the discussion on the use, more generally, of these tickets to buy food”, said he announced.