A check targeted at organic and local products is complex to set up. The government is procrastinating and prefers a new inflation allowance paid at the start of the school year to low-income households.
What will the food check be used for? Will it be a regular allowance to buy organic products or a one-off aid to protect the purchasing power of modest French people? Elisabeth Borne seems to favor the second option in the short term. “In an emergency, with inflation, this will be aid paid directly into the bank account, all at once, naturally taking into account the number of children in the family.“said the Prime Minister on France Bleu on Tuesday without further specifying the contours of this first measure.
Read alsoLegislative 2022: in Caen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon puts Elisabeth Borne on trial
The aid resembles a reissue of the inflation compensation distributed by the Castex government in October 2021 to 38 million people. It will not be arrowed on food purchases as one might have expected from a “food voucher” and could also be used to pay for other expenses. The number of beneficiaries is not yet known but should be revised downwards in relation to the inflation allowance which 38 million people had benefited from. “It would be right for it to be concentrated on the most modest households who really have difficulty eating properly”explained the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire on BFMTV on Wednesday, who specified that the amount will also be “less wide” than the previous inflation allowance. The figure of 100 to 150 euros is circulating.
The difficulty of arrowing
The initial project of a food check for organic and local products, suggested in 2020 by the citizens’ convention for the climate and taken up by Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign, has been postponed at this stage. The device “target to allow all French people to access quality products, organic products» is the subject of a “reflection” admitted Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday.
Its implementation, in particular its signposting for the exclusive purchase of certain categories of food, seems complex and arouses reservations within the government itself, particularly in Bercy. “The device that allows you to go to your store to take organic products or French-sourced products that will benefit French producers: I don’t know how“, lamented Bruno Le Maire on BFMTV, who recognizes that immediately distributing such aid is impossible.
Read alsoWhy Macron opted for the “inflation check”
A report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) submitted to the government feeds doubts around the feasibility and relevance of such a check. “The arrowed format (…) restricts the choice of products, which affects the acceptability of the aid, the effective control capacities are limited“, points out the document distributed by the media Context. The cost of the device is estimated by the IGAS and the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) between 1.5 billion and 3.5 billion euros each year for a food check of 20 to 30 euros per month and per person.