Question 11885 — commerce and crafts

Summary

Ms. Tiffany Joncour alerts the Minister of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Commerce, Crafts, Tourism and Purchasing Power to the particularly unfair and unbalanced situation that traders and artisans accepting meal vouchers are experiencing today. Several professional organizations contacted it, in a letter dated December 9, 2025, to denounce the explosion of commissions taken by the four historical issuers, which hold more than 99% of the market. These commissions now reach 4 to 5% of the amounts collected, even though the margins of many restaurateurs, bakers, greengrocers or food traders rarely exceed 3%. For a very large part of these essential players in local life, these samples now represent a direct threat to their economic survival. She recalls that this This drift finds its origin in a progressive transfer of costs: what was yesterday the responsibility of employers now weighs almost entirely on traders. This shift, which has never been controlled or corrected, today constitutes real income for the benefit of a firmly established oligopoly. The dematerialization of securities, which should have simplified the system and reduced costs, was paradoxically followed an additional increase in commissions. Opinion 23-A-16 of 2023 from the Competition Authority also confirmed the existence of a locked market, preventing any real competition and leaving professionals without any negotiating leverage. This situation is not only harmful: it is unfair. It hits local traders, the self-employed, artisans, those who make up the economic network and social welfare of the territories and which the National Rally strives to defend. A survey cited by the signatory organizations reveals that certain small businesses now refuse meal vouchers as the commissions have become unbearable, which contributes to the commercial desertification of city centers and deprives employees of a service that is nevertheless important on a daily basis. Professionals consider that only the establishment of a strict cap on commissions, aligned with the levels observed for commercial cards, that is to say between 1.50% and 2%, would finally make it possible to restore a balance. They emphasize that comparable mechanisms already exist in several regulated sectors, such as holiday vouchers, certain interbank commissions or regulated discounts in the pharmaceutical sector. In other words, the capping would not be exceptional: it is a normal, proportionate and already proven tool, making it possible to rebalance a clearly failing market. In a context where the survival of local businesses is a major issue for territorial cohesion, the MP therefore asks whether the Government finally intends to intervene to put an end to these practices. She wants to know if the announced reform will include a cap clear, readable and quickly applicable commissions for accepting meal vouchers. She also questions the Government on the measures planned to restore real competition in a sector currently dominated by four historic players, whose pricing practices seriously weaken traders. Finally, she asks him for the timetable chosen so that this measure can come into force as soon as possible, in the interest of artisans, local businesses and, more broadly, the economic vitality of the regions.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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