The senators take the accusations of Michel-Édouard Leclerc at their word and will look into the roots of the price increases which are straining the budget of the French.
This Friday, the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate, chaired by Sophie Primas, announced that it would "
address the question of purchasing power and the causes of inflation in the prices of consumer products
".
The first elements will be published in three weeks.
Read alsoInflation: why the French are not all equal in the face of soaring prices
The senators listened to the accusations made by the industrialist Michel-Édouard Leclerc: for several months, he has been annoyed by inflation, believing that a good part of the price increases are not justified.
“
Half of the price increases
” requested by the food industry “
are not transparent and are suspect
”, he thus judged on BFMTV, this week.
The elected representatives of the CRCE group in the Senate quickly rebounded on the statements of the distributor: his remarks "
deserve consideration and [un] such parliamentary work would make it possible to enlighten the debates to come
", they considered in a letter addressed to Sophie Primas, asking for the creation of an "
information mission concerning the origins of inflation
".
Other elected members of Nupes, in the National Assembly, also supported the idea of a parliamentary inquiry into price increases: "
excellent suggestion
", commented the boss of the PS, Olivier Faure, when his colleague LFI Manuel Bompard described this track as a “
very good idea
”.
Accelerate work already in progress
As part of the work of the group monitoring the Egalim law, which oversees discussions between distributors and producers, the senators therefore intend to "
establish an initial assessment of the causes of [l']inflation
" on July 20.
This work should shed light on the debates in Parliament around the bill aimed at protecting the purchasing power of households, which promise to be turbulent.
The Economic Affairs Commission accuses the Egalim laws of participating in price increases: "
Each actor seems, at first sight, legitimate in its requests, and it will be up to us to identify what is actually the real increase in the price of inputs, purely speculative movements, or more broadly an inadequacy of the regulatory framework
“Comments Senator (LR) Daniel Gremillet, quoted in a press release.
Launching a commission of inquiry, as suggested by Michel-Édouard Leclerc, would have been too long, the work usually taking six months, explains a senatorial source.
Same observation for a flash mission, requested by the Communist senators, which takes rather a month.
The elected officials therefore preferred to rely on the work currently being carried out within the framework of the Egalim monitoring group.
The hearings that are taking place these days with distribution players address these themes and will provide the first elements of an answer.
Behind, if the conclusions prove to be interesting, nothing will prevent the senators from going further, by launching an information mission or even a commission of inquiry.
Verdict in three weeks, therefore.
