Dish of the day, sandwiches, salads, but also flour, meat, dough or bread… Meal vouchers will remain valid until the end of 2024 for any type of food purchase. Parliament urgently adopted on Monday December 18, by a final vote in the Senate, the extension of the exemption put in place in 2022.
The text, presented by the government as a measure to combat still high inflation, was adopted by 322 votes to 2 by senators in the evening.
Pressed for time as the system was due to expire at the end of 2023 if no legislative changes were made, the senators kept the same editorial version as that adopted by the National Assembly at the end of November. This will allow the system to come into force as quickly as possible, “a very short-term necessity” according to the Minister of Commerce, Olivia Grégoire.
The system allows some 5.4 million employees in France to use their “restaurant vouchers” to purchase all types of food products on the shelves, whereas they are normally reserved for dishes sold by restaurants and directly consumable products.
The government, in favor of extending the system temporarily, repeated Monday evening that it would be open to a lasting reform of the meal voucher, particularly with a view to its dematerialization. “We need to modernize it, dust it off”, said Olivia Grégoire. However, pure and simple sustainability “requires more in-depth work and consultation”she added.
“Risk of destabilization of the catering sector”
Les Républicains rapporteur Marie-Do Aeschlimann went in the same direction by asking for a broad vote without modification “immediately and in the face of urgency”. She nevertheless highlighted the “reserves” issued by restaurateurs to which the Senate will be “vigilant”.
“We are not unaware of the risk of destabilization of the catering sector already strongly affected by successive crises. Likewise, we do not ignore the need to find a lasting solution for the purchasing power of the French because the policy of the check is akin to a bandage on a wooden leg”she continued.
Several environmentalist and centrist senators have also tried, in vain, to limit the extension to six months – to June 30, 2024.