Question 6722 — commerce and crafts

Summary

Mr. Damien Maudet calls on the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, responsible for commerce, crafts, small and medium-sized businesses and the social and solidarity economy, about the financial difficulties encountered by artisan bakers. The rise in electricity prices is forcing many of them to lay off workers, or even close their doors. door. “In two years, we went from 35,000 euros to 3,000 euros in cash. We separated from our employee, we deprived ourselves of 6 months of salary. And we are told that everything is fine. To get support, we should go into liquidation. If just one big bill arrives, we’re dead,” according to Dominique, baker in Saint-Priest-Taurion. Two years ago, almost to the day, the MP was already renewing his alert to the Minister of the Economy, Mr. Bruno Le Maire, on the situation of artisan bakers, suffocated by the rise in energy prices. Two years later, the situation has not changed, and has even gotten worse for some. In the MP's constituency, bakers have tried to cope with increases by three or five times their electricity bills. He says he will try, because as throughout the national territory, a number A significant number of them have had to close their doors, victims of a European system which indexes energy prices on gas and not on real production costs. Between November 2022 and October 2023, 1,100 bakeries went bankrupt in the country. For the smaller bakeries which have “held on” in the face of rising production costs – and raw materials – the results are not glorious. The treasuries are emptied, often the craftsmen had to separate from their employees and deprive themselves of wages. This is the case of Dominique Lacotte in Saint-Priest-Taurion. In two years, he went from 35,000 to 3,000 euros in cash, which means that the slightest bill, the slightest dysfunctional device could bring him to the ground. Furthermore, if it is not at zero, it is because he had to sacrifice a large part of his business and his private life: separation of his apprentice, separation from his employee, increase in working hours from 5 to 6 hours per day to compensate, 6 months without paying himself a salary with his wife. However, with each of his alerts, he is told that he is not in enough difficulty to be helped. The situation is ludicrous and the “solutions” are grotesque: for salaries: “We are advised to take the minimum salary and ask for the activity bonus! » ; for the economic situation: “I am told to go to the commercial court when I am at zero and to go into liquidation. But what makes me think this will save us? » Mr. Prime Minister recently declared that “The French do not work enough”. Does the Minister not believe, especially in light of this situation, that it is above all work that does not pay enough, including for craftsmen? Otherwise, How can we understand that bakers are being suffocated, pushed into liquidation, without any help from the State to compensate for the crazy increases in energy prices? Also, it must be remembered that this situation does not only make people unhappy. If the margin rate of bakers is on average 8% according to Xerfi, that of energy companies was 80% in 2024 according to INSEE! A rebalancing between the two seems more than justified, even urgent. Beyond energy, the prices of raw materials have also seen a significant jump: +50% for sugar, +74% for chocolate, +40% for flour, +30% for butter. The margin rate of the agri-food industry increased from 28 to 48% between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2023. Rather than a rebalancing and while the tax on energy companies seems to have missed its target according to the Court of Auditors, the bakers will see a new tax appear: this time on packaging. So that the Minister can draw inspiration from the realities on the ground and understand the extent of the distress experienced by bakeries, the MP takes the liberty of repeating his invitation to his predecessor to come to Haute-Vienne to tour the small businesses in the department and grasp, through contact with traders and craftsmen, the entire problem. With his team, he remains at his disposal for the logistical organization of this trip to Haute-Vienne. While waiting for the Minister's visit, it is urgent to act. At a time of the race against the deficit, it is not up to the smallest to pay to protect the margins of the most profitable. We need a rebalancing so that those most in difficulty are protected. He asks her what measures she plans to put in place to protect bakeries and whether it intends to quickly review this new tax on packaging, threatening to push bakers down a little further.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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