To cope with “the first emergency of the French”the government promises to strike fast and hard. “Emergency laws for purchasing power will be the first texts of this quinquennium”, said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on May 27. The outline of these measures will be unveiled in the Council of Ministers within a week, before a complete presentation on June 29, said the government spokesperson, Monday May 30, in The Parisian (paid article).
One of the measures prepared by the executive is a food voucher, intended for low-income households affected by the rise in food prices. A novelty ? Not that much. This project, in place for a year and a half, has long taken dust in the government’s boxes, before resurfacing in a context of growing inflation. Franceinfo tells you about the difficult gestation of this check, which has yet to be made out.
1June 2020: the Citizen’s Climate Convention proposes this idea
Remember the summer of 2020. After nine months of work, on June 21, the members of the Citizen’s Climate Convention (CCC) adopted a series of 149 proposals to reduce France’s greenhouse gas emissions. Shaken by the crisis of “yellow vests”, Emmanuel Macron had given them a watchword: the “social justice”. Message received. To encourage consumers to buy “sustainable products”one of the measures adopted consists of “Implement food vouchers for the most deprived”.
Citizens want these checks to be usable “for organic products” Where “in the Amaps”, associations promoting short circuits. But, anticipating legal obstacles, they propose a broader definition and include various terms such as “Label rouge”, “High environmental value”, “Sustainable fishing” or even “Farm product”.
Logistically, the distribution of these checks would be entrusted to the municipal social action centers (CCAS). “In some municipalities, they are already responsible for distributing food vouchers, resembling restaurant tickets, which allow shopping in social grocery stores or partner shops”praises the Citizen’s Climate Convention.
2June to December 2020: Emmanuel Macron promises to make it happen
A few days later, on June 29, Emmanuel Macron undertakes to submit almost all of the CCC’s proposals to the government or to Parliament. In front of the citizens gathered in the gardens of the Elysée, he quotes some “strong proposals” that he wishes “see all covers”starting with the “food vouchers, to allow the most modest to buy quality products”.
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In the torpor of summer, the idea made its way, but, in the fall, radio silence from the executive. The measure does not appear in the recovery plan or in the 2021 finance bill. In December, the cause seems heard. Deemed too expensive during ministerial arbitrations, the food check is no longer relevant, to the dismay of the Citizen’s Convention for the Climate. One of the participants then demands accountability from the Head of State.
“We do not understand the categorical refusal of the Ministry of Agriculture to set up food vouchers for organic and local products.”
A member of the Citizen’s Climate Conventionduring a meeting with Emmanuel Macron, December 14
Response from the Head of State, which takes everyone by surprise: “I agree on the food check, so we have to do it. You’re right.” Applause in the room.
As soon as the presidential green light is given, the majority gets ready to make the project a reality. A working group made up of about ten deputies was created and a note was sent to the government. Priority products targeted: organic or labeled fruits and vegetables, local and seasonal. Amount: between 30 and 60 euros monthly per family. The check then targets the “precarious populations” but also the general public, for example in the event of support by their company, as for restaurant or holiday vouchers, reports The Opinion (paid article).
3February to August 2021: the measure appears in the Climate Law, without being implemented
However, at the beginning of February, there was no trace of the device in the initial version of the government’s Climate Bill. In March, LREM MP Mounir Mahjoubi asked the government “to engage” on the subject and passed an amendment. “The sustainable food check is for now”, wants to believe the chosen one. defending his “attachment” to the extent, Julien Denormandie, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, assures him that the work is progressing.
“The criteria are being finalized and defined within the government.”
Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Foodto the National Assembly
The Climate and Resilience law is promulgated in August, with the amendment of Mounir Mahjoubi. Article 259, very timid, only provides for the submission to Parliament of two reports, by October and February, without the obligation to introduce the famous “sustainable food voucher”. Green MPs denounce, in vain, this lack of eagerness: “Faced with the climate emergency, the time must be for action and decision, not for ordering reports from the government.”
4End of 2021: Bercy decides and the measure is again abandoned
At the end of the year, after hearings conducted by the Ministries of Food, Solidarity and Finance, the “sustainable food voucher” was once again missing. “We were auditioned in the fall, then we were told that there would only be one report out of the two planned. In the end, neither was published”, deplores the Federation of Food Banks to franceinfo. The association is now asking the executive to reveal the conclusions of this inspection “before the legislative”.
Why such a funeral? “In the finance law, at the end of 2021, Bercy did not wish to grant a budget for the food voucher, preferring to strengthen aid to charities”responds the FNSEA, the main agricultural union, which has long campaigned for such a device.
“There was an arbitration by Bruno Le Maire unfavorable to the food check.”
Yannick Fialip, Chairman of the FNSEA Economic Commissionat franceinfo
“It’s very complicated to set up, I won’t hide it from you”had warned the Minister of Economy and Finance, on BFMTV, in September, concerned “that our public finances are well kept and that the money goes to those who really need it”.
5March and April 2022: the promise resurfaces in the middle of the electoral campaign
On March 7, in Poissy (Yvelines), during his inaugural outing as declared candidate for his succession, Emmanuel Macron unveils his first proposals.
“It’s the candidate who speaks to you: we are going to set up the food check. (…) The president would have liked to do it. There was a lot of resistance and it was all complicated.”
Emmanuel Macron, candidate for his succession to the Elyséeduring a meeting with residents of Poissy
What form will the device take this time? Joker. On March 22, the president is content to defend a measure intended for “lowest-income households and [aux] middle classes”to encourage them “to buy in short circuit and to buy French”. A month later, before the second round, Julien Denormandie is just as evasive as a year earlier. “The principle is arbitrated, we are in the technical details”he eludes, referring to a potential target of eight million beneficiaries and an implementation “immediately after the election, during the year 2022”.
6May and June 2022: the check should finally see the light of day but “nothing is recorded”
At the time of arbitration, before the presentation of the bill on purchasing power, “nothing is excluded”affirms to franceinfo the deputy LREM Gregory Besson-Moreau, who says “work on the subject with the president and his teams”. “The inflation linked to the Russian-Ukrainian war is upsetting the basic ideas and we have to react very quickly, perhaps with a double-trigger system.he says. There could be an emergency measure, and behind it more targeted measures. Nothing is done.”
Before leaving Matignon, Jean Castex did not rule out reducing the ecological ambition of the system either.
“The option is for this food check to become a purchasing power check.”
Jean Castex, Prime Ministerto AFP, April 15
Behind the scenes, players in the sector are trying to influence the basket of foods affected by the future check. The Agricultural Cooperation, lobby of cooperatives, and the FNSEA are campaigning for the inclusion of all “quality and local food products, of animal and vegetable origin”, including excluding fresh products and without organic label. An amount of between 90 and 150 euros monthly per household is advanced.
The retail sector pleads to include the grocery, dairy and even hygiene departments, far from the initial vocation of the food voucher. For the E.Leclerc group, “social emergency” must take precedence over the objective of “to change the diet of the French”.
“The problem with this check is that it seems simple, but everyone has put their own objectives behind it”, observed Barbara Mauvilain, in charge of institutional relations within the Food Banks. The time has therefore come for the government to clarify its line.