MPs decide this Thursday, November 23, whether or not to extend the use of meal vouchers for shopping. The text provides for an extension of the use of this means of payment to all food products, whether directly consumable or not, until the end of 2024.
The opportunity to look back in figures on the preferred social benefit of the French (according to various surveys). 5.4 million employees benefit from it, for a market estimated at 8.5 billion euros according to the National Commission for Meal Vouchers (CNTR), a joint body which supervises this means of payment. 235,000 businesses and restaurants are approved and accept tickets whose usage ceiling was increased in October 2022 from 18 to 25 euros.
A maximum which should remain unchanged, as specified by the Minister for Commerce Olivia Grégoire. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, even said he was “ready for us to open the discussion” to perpetuate the system beyond 2024, to the great dismay of restaurateurs. A decision which could cause the loss of this advantage, alerted the CNTR on Tuesday. “The positive action of the meal voucher is no longer to be emphasized, its use extended to all food products leads to the gradual disappearance of the meal break, a French cultural tradition,” lamented the organization in a press release.