Meal vouchers: Véronique Louwagie demands a reduction in commissions applied to restaurateurs

Véronique Louwagie, the Minister Delegate for Trade, detailed her meal voucher reform on RMC this Thursday, as it was revealed the day before in Le Parisien . Among the changes is the extension of their use to every day of the week, including Sundays, and throughout France (except on public holidays). The extension of their use in supermarkets beyond 2027, confirmed by the Minister on June 17, has provoked the ire of restaurateurs, who are denouncing a loss of more than a billion euros over two years.

Speaking to Apolline Matin , Véronique Louwagie announced that she intended to "ban end-of-year discounts paid to issuers" and that she would "intervene on the level of commissions that weigh heavily on restaurateurs." Restaurant voucher issuers (Edenred, Updéjeuner, Glady, Swile, etc.) do charge restaurant owners commissions. According to Edenred, they are "between 3 and 5% of the transaction amount."

The minister's proposal was immediately dismissed on RMC this Thursday by Franck Chaumes, national president of the UMIH catering branch, who saw it as "an epiphenomenon."

"We're not going to go from 4% to 1%, they're going to drop by 1% and for an establishment, that's between 900 and 1,110 euros less per year! Do you think you're going to save the French restaurant industry?" he indignantly asks Minister Véronique Louwagie.

"I approached issuers, restaurateurs, and retailers to ask them to come together and ensure that commission levels are reduced. I gave all stakeholders three months to commit to a transparency charter," assures Véronique Louwagie.

The UMIH's main demand was based on the double ceiling, that is, "two levels of acceptance," as Franck Delvau, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH) Paris Île-de-France, called for on RMC last week. "A level of 20-25 euros for shopping, and a level of 40-50 euros for eating out."

The minister assured Ouest-France that this avenue was being taken "very seriously," while emphasizing the need to "verify its legal feasibility." The reform, which has been in the works for two years but has been delayed by changes in government, is intended to modernize the system while "providing greater incentives for consumption," the ministry told AFP.

The final form it will take (draft or proposed law) has not yet been decided, nor has its timetable, with the ministry hoping for it to be debated before the end of 2026.