French meal vouchers: MPs weigh a €25 restaurant ceiling
A bill before the National Assembly would make grocery purchases with vouchers permanent. Restaurant groups want a split daily limit written in before the 12 October sitting.
French meal vouchers reached a decisive week in Paris on 7 October, when the National Assembly's social affairs committee examined a bill that restaurant groups want amended with a double ceiling: €25 a day in restaurants, €10 in supermarkets.
The text, bill no. 2892, was filed on 9 June by Christophe Naegelen, a LIOT deputy for the Vosges, and ten colleagues. The Assembly's file lists 87 committee amendments and a public sitting on Monday 12 October. The committee's version was filed on 7 October but was not yet published at the time of writing, so the fate of the ceiling amendments is not on record.
What the French meal vouchers bill actually says
A voucher invented for lunch now pays for the weekly shop, and restaurants want the difference back.
Nothing has been voted into law. As drafted, the bill contains no double ceiling at all. It makes the purchase of any food used to prepare a meal permanent, with exceptions to be set by decree; the explanatory statement names alcohol, confectionery, baby food and pet food. It ends paper vouchers from 1 January 2028 and obliges issuers to send each merchant a statement of commissions and fees every January.
Those provisions would apply from 1 January 2028. Until then, article 4 moves the current exemption, which lets employees buy pasta, rice or oil with vouchers, from 31 December 2026 to 31 December 2027. Without a vote before the end of the year, that exemption lapses.
The split limit for French meal vouchers comes from amendments. According to MoneyVox, MoDem and Renaissance deputies proposed €25 for a restaurant meal and €10 for shop purchases. LCP reported that Naegelen, who is also rapporteur, tabled a different version: keep €25 a day for all food and create a ceiling at least 20% higher for restaurants. Other amendments would allow use on Sundays and public holidays, when vouchers are currently barred unless the employee is working.
Restaurants count €1.22 billion in lost spending
The GHR said on 18 September that restaurants' share of voucher spending fell from 46.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 34.3% in the first quarter of 2026, which it values at €1.22 billion a year.
The UMIH called the double ceiling the only fair and balanced response and said rejecting it would weaken a sector of 175,000 restaurants, MoneyVox reported. The retail federation FCD replied that vouchers must keep serving purchasing power.
The dispute lands in a country already rethinking what it taxes and subsidises at the table, starting with a proposed sugar tax on processed foods. French meal vouchers are held by more than 6 million employees and accepted by over 240,000 merchants, according to the bill. On 12 October the chamber starts deciding how much of that spending returns to a dining room.
