In overseas, this announcement was expected. Monday, March 17, Manuel Valls promised a bill against life dear in the overseas territories “before summer”, during a visit to Martinique, the Island of the Antilles shaken at the end of 2024 by mobilization against food prices.
The overseas minister arrived a few hours earlier on the island for a 48-hour visit, conclusion of a six-day tour in the four French communities in the Antilles.
Fight against anti -competitive practices
In this text, the executive will propose “a complete and structural battle plan which methodically attacks all the factors explaining the cost of the Life, “said Manuel Valls the result of a meeting with several dozen elected officials and representatives of the economic world at the prefecture of Martinique.
The bill against dear life should “resume certain articles” of law proposals presented in recent months by several parliamentarians from the overseas regions, said the Minister, urging to “engage a real economic transformation of the” ultramarine “territories.
The Minister then mentioned five priorities contained in this bill in preparation, in particular the strengthening of competition and the fight against “anti -competitive practices”. “Large high -performance groups” present in these territories “sometimes play a role in suffocation of the economy”, reaffirmed Manuel Valls making remarks that he had pronounced in the National Assembly on January 22. These distribution groups “are present at all levels of the supply” supply, he said.
10 million euros for victims
The text will also aim for more transparency in the economic life of overseas with “more dissuasive” sanctions for the many local companies which “do not comply” with their obligations, added the minister.
He also called to “break up with imports”, “promote local production”, and better integrate the overseas territories with “their regional market”, in order to limit imports from France and Europe “to what is strictly essential”.
Finally, the Minister of Overseas announced “a support of 10 million euros” for “economic and traders” disaster-founded during the urban violence in the fall of 2024, on the sidelines of a large mobilization against the high cost of life. In Martinique, food prices often exceed 40 % those of France.