FOOD CHECK. Complex to set up, the energy check should not see the light of day before 2023. Amount, beneficiaries… Linternaute.com answers all your questions.
[Mis à jour le 23 juin 2022 à 09h20] Will the food voucher see the light of day? In all likelihood, yes! But on what date? This is the real question, moreover following the legislative elections and the loss of the absolute majority for Emmanuel Macron and the group Together!. The next discussions will take place in the fall, in October or November as announced by the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau at the microphone of France Info this Monday, June 20. However, the start should not be effective before 2023, if the various groups of the National Assembly manage to agree on the text.
The food check would concern up to 10 million people in France. The discussions have certainly begun, but the most modest have still not seen the color of this exceptional aid, in the small papers since the end of 2020. “We must bring together farmers, producers, the different sectors. There is also the question of the environmental impact of this or that product.” affirmed Marc Fesneau. Regarding the beneficiaries, students and 18-25 year olds could be favored by the executive, in the same way as the modest and middle classes. Finally, low-wage families with dependent children could also benefit of this new device. The food check does not seem to be one of the priorities of the executive after having lost the absolute majority in the National Assembly, it will be necessary to wait several more months before knowing the exact methods of payment, and the exact beneficiaries.
The amount of the food check is not yet known but should be between 100 and 150 euros. “The total budget could then rise from a few hundred million to two billion euros”, MP Mounir Mahjoubi had indicated in February 2021 to West France. “Afterwards, this will come into confrontation with other proposals, such as specific allocations for the Covid period. This is the whole subject of the discussions which are taking place at governmental level”, he added then. The powerful agricultural union FNSEA offers a device that would allow you to spend 5 euros a day.
If Emmanuel Macron is re-elected and sets up this new aid, the food check should be a device aimed at the most deprived people. Emmanuel Macron spoke of “lower classes” and “middle classes” at France Bleu on March 22, 2022. What will be the criteria? Will there be a threshold of reference tax income not to exceed ? For the moment, these questions have not yet been arbitrated. At this stage, several leads are on the table. In 2021, the Ministry of the Economy defended the idea that the system be entrusted to the municipal centers for social action (CCAS), thus targeting 5 million beneficiaries, a track also presented by the citizens of the Citizens’ Convention in their report.
The Minister of Agriculture, he leaned more towards aid for “young people or families with children on low incomes”, in the form of a check or card. The idea is also carried by the deputy of Paris, Mounir Mahjoubi, who defends a project close to that of Julien Denormandie.
The payment of the food check was planned for the start of the 2022 school year, but its implementation proved to be more complex than expected for the executive. Budget Minister Gabriel Attal “hopes to be able to present this measure in 2023”. For the time being, no precise date has been communicated, and the food check is replaced in 2022 by a new inflation bonus of 150 euros, paid at the start of the 2022 school year.
The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau gave him a period: “October-November”. However, this period simply corresponds to the debates concerning the finance law. The food voucher should therefore not see the light of day before the end of 2022. The hypothesis of the first quarter of 2023 is, for the time being, more plausible.
The Fund of Family allowances does not currently allocate food vouchers on a national scale but could be the body responsible for this system, linked to the social aid it already pays. At the local level, certain food aid schemes can already be put in place. It is advisable to contact the social action department of your fund. On its dedicated site, the Caf de Saône-et-Loire notably highlighted the implementation of one-off aid in April 2020, in order to help the most deprived to buy basic food products. The device was then aimed at recipients of family benefits, APL, RSA and the activity bonus.
The priority of Emmanuel Macron and his government is fruit and vegetables. And French if possible, from short circuits, and organic! Products qualified as “healthy”. This food check could be used in the supermarket or on the stalls of your local markets.