The deputies approved this Wednesday in first reading a text that experimentally modifies the balance of power between industrialists in the food industry and large distribution, despite criticism of the large cartels that wield an inflationary risk. After ten days of media confrontation, in particular with Michel Édouard-Leclerc, the deputies unanimously approved the voters (111 votes in favor, 37 abstentions) the text by Frédéric Descrozaille (Renaissance, presidential party).
At the center of the debates, the negotiations between distributors and suppliers. The latter propose prices and sales conditions for their products on December 1 of each year, the starting point for tense discussions until March 1. But according to Frédéric Descrozaille, the balance of power is too favorable to large retailers: “the failure of the negotiations does not interrupt the contract. The buyer continues to place an order, the supplier is obliged to deliver it, at the price of l ‘previous year’ .
Its text originally provided for a reversal of the balance of power: the supermarket that wanted to continue to be delivered would have to accept the supplier’s prices and conditions. The deputies had added in commission a transition period of one month with a mediator to agree on a commercial break notice or a recovery.
“It is empty”
An unacceptable text for large retailers, which warns of an impact on prices on the shelves and accuses Ilec, the liaison institute for consumer industries that represents many manufacturers (such as Nestlé, Danone or L’Oréal) of being in the origin of the text. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire had estimated that the text should be “reworked.” “No commercial brand could oppose price increases of 10 to 30%,” Michel-Édouard Leclerc was outraged.
The president of the Renaissance group Aurore Bergé denounced the “pressure” exerted by Michel-Édouard Leclerc on the Assembly, rejecting any submission to lobbies. Asked by her colleague, the former deputy Grégory Besson-Moreau, who now does strategic consulting and has been in contact with Ilec, she replied that he worked with “stakeholders with total transparency” and not “to be under the influence”.
During the examination in session, Deputy Descrozaille transformed his measure into an experiment for “two years”. If the negotiations fail after three months, the mediator would intervene, and would include the ministry. If the two parties still could not reach an agreement, business relations would be broken, with no obligation to deliver. The deputy LR Jérôme Nury warned against the establishment of “common rules for completely different actors”, small producers, SMEs and multinationals.
waiting for the senate
Deputies from the right and left and from RN unsuccessfully advocated for the text to more specifically protect VSE/SMEs and small producers. For the Government, the Minister of Industry, Roland Lescure, estimated that it is “approaching” an “equilibrium” and that the rewriting of the text “limits the risk of inflation and may allow a provider to recover margins.” However, he contented himself with giving an opinion of wisdom, rather than a favorable opinion on this measure.
Environmentalists voted in favor of the text, Marie Pochon advocated “rebalancing the negotiations between manufacturers and distributors”. The rebels abstained, for lack of sufficient measures for “peasants” and “consumers”. The Socialists voted in favor.
Another key measure in the text: an application of French law to the purchasing centers that distribution brands have located in Europe, to counteract “legal evasion”. It limits the logistical sanctions imposed by a distributor on its supplier to 2% of the value of the products. It also extends until 2026 the promotion framework and the resale threshold at a loss, which obliges distributors to sell food products with a minimum margin of 10%.
The text must now go to the Senate for review as of February 15.
Source: BFM TV
