By announcing Thursday evening on France 2 that all college and high school students should wear the mask from September 1 and that it was up to families to pay, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer launched, despite himself, the debate. "How do you claim that school is compulsory if access is conditional on the purchase of a mask?" ”Gets carried away Manuel Bompard, MEP for La France insoumise (LFI).
Since the start of the epidemic, LFI has made the “free mask for everyone” its main focus. Jean-Luc Mélenchon's movement is no longer alone. On the right and on the left, faced with the rebound of the epidemic, the idea of “free” is gaining ground.
LR side, Eric Ciotti is “for”, when other executives of the RN or the PS also call for their wishes. Logic according to Olivier Gayraud: "From the moment the government has decided to generalize the wearing of masks in all closed public places, the question does arise".
"We must give ourselves the means"
For the lawyer of the CLCV consumer association, it is a question of public health: "If we want everyone to play the game, including the youngest, then we must give ourselves the means". For this consumer advocate, it is also inconsistent to make the mask free in business since it is the responsibility of the employer and paid for in college and high school: "School is a place of mixing. social, it welcomes all wealthy and modest backgrounds. Thereupon, the government must review its copy. It is obvious that this is an additional burden that is added to the budget of low-income families and that this can generate inequalities, ”he emphasizes.
Even the economist Frédéric Bizard, labeled “ultraliberal” and little in favor of free education for all agrees: “On the school, the government is wrong: the masks should be free and the National Education should be budgeted for. This will generate a feeling of injustice between students. The most disadvantaged will suffer, ”he believes. 228 euros, that's what represents on average the annual budget "surgical masks" for a family of four, had calculated the Parisian.
This budget drops to 96 euros when you opt for fabric masks, "except that the vast majority of people prefer surgical masks, that's how it is, remarks Olivier Gayraud, it's less restrictive, it's disposable, does not have to wash them. »Free masks for everyone? For the moment, the government is turning a deaf ear: sending 40 million washable masks to 7 million French people who are below the poverty line is what is planned for the moment.
"Who will take care of the distribution?"
“The State, and the French taxpayer, is not intended to pay for masks for everyone, all the time. It must remain a social policy, ”explained Emmanuel Macron on TF1 on July 21. "If we correctly follow the health recommendations, total free access would cost around fifteen billion euros per year to the state budget," notes Frédéric Bizard, who also sees more disadvantages than advantages to free: “Who will take care of the distribution? It might be a pretty mess. It is true that supermarkets take a margin, but at least distributing, they know how to do, that's their job ”he argues.
This professor at Paris Dauphine sees another difficulty, more behavioral: "Experience shows that from the moment a good guaranteeing security is free, each tends to behave like a policeman, by criticizing the other much more easily. who does not respect the good behavior to come. Hello social tension! "
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Besides, would there be enough masks for everyone? “Yes, believes Olivier Gayraud, there is again a plethora of purchasable masks in the world. The government would also do well to lower the ceiling price it set at the start of the crisis: 95 cents per mask, that was justified when there was a shortage, not anymore, he explains. This ceiling should be reduced to around ten cents. This would encourage competition. "
No miracle to be expected on the prices
But for Frédéric Bizard, there is no miracle to be expected in terms of lower prices: “For the moment, we still have not found the prices before the shortage, because for surgical masks, we are prisoners of Asian supplies. They represent three quarters of arrivals. In France, the public authorities have instead pushed for the manufacture of fabric masks, that may be the solution. "
Fabric or not, will masks one day be distributed in self-service, in train stations, at bus stations or at the entrance to shops and schools, who knows? “No developed country has done so until now,” notes Frédéric Bizard. Manuel Bompard, he does not despair. “This government always takes its decisions a step behind schedule. It took two months for him to understand the need to generalize the mask. Perhaps in two months, he will have understood that there is a need for free. "