Lawmakers voted on Monday on a bill making permanent the option of using meal vouchers (titres-restaurant) to buy food products in supermarkets, according to BFM Business. The text, examined under an accelerated procedure, was adopted by 87 votes in favour and none against.
Originally, titres-restaurant are vouchers partly funded by employers, intended to cover employees' lunch during their working day. Environ six million employees benefit from them. The option of using them for all food products had been introduced in 2022, amid high inflation, then extended twice. The current exemption was due to expire on 31 December.
A use increasingly geared toward large retailers
The issue came before the L'Assemblée for the third time since 2023. Against this backdrop, the share of large retail chains in spending settled with titres-restaurant rose from 22% to 31% between late 2022 and mid-2024, according to BFM Business. Restaurant owners have expressed concern and are calling for more favourable treatment compared with large retailers. Plusieurs lawmakers proposed, unsuccessfully, setting two separate daily spending caps, one for restaurants and one for food shops, with a more favourable amount for the former.
The text provides for extending the measure for one year before making it permanent from 2028, the date by which the full dematerialisation of titres-restaurant is also planned. The reform also opens their use on Sundays and public holidays, and generalises the possibility of donating them to food aid associations.
Issuers' commissions in the spotlight
Quatre long-established players account for most of the titres-restaurant market, and charge fees that can reach 4 to 5% of the amount collected. In 2019, the Autorité de la concurrence had fined them, along with their joint body, nearly 415 million euros for anticompetitive practices. At the end of discussions, the text sets a new framework for these commissions, but without a numerical cap. It does, however, give the government the option of capping them later by decree.
The bill must now be sent to the Sénat.
