Despite the support of the government, the deputies rejected on Monday at first reading of the Social Security budget a reform of the “soda tax”, intended to limit the quantity of sugars in this type of drink.
An amendment by the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, sub-amended by the general rapporteur Yannick Neuder (LR), planned to reform the tax on sodas by creating three tax brackets, instead of sixteen, drawing inspiration from the British model, “in order to combat obesity among young people and type 2 diabetes”.
The British tax “made it possible to reduce the proportion of drinks above the first threshold (5g/ml) by 40% and the total reduction in sugar intake would be estimated at 30 g per household per week, i.e. an effect four times higher than the French tax”, develops the explanatory statement of the amendment.
But Jérôme Guedj's proposal was rejected by 57 votes to 46. The environmentalist, socialist, communist, MoDem and Horizons deputies voted for, while the RN, and a majority of LR as well as Ensemble pour la République voted against . Insoumise France abstained.
“Frustration” and “anger”
Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq (MoDem) supported the amendment as did her predecessor Frédéric Valletoux (Horizons). Former Minister of Consumer Affairs and EPR MP Olivia Grégoire opposed it, highlighting a possible pass-on of the tax on the price paid by the consumer.
On behalf of the rebels, Hadrien Clouet explained that his group wanted “a slightly firmer policy” and “that instead of being satisfied with taxes, part of which actually rests on the consumer (…) we are finally coming to regulate the levels authorized in the diet, the salt levels, the sugar levels, the levels of saturated fatty acids”.
At the end of the vote, Jérôme Guedj expressed his “frustration” and his “anger” on the social network X, believing that his amendment was rejected “for the wrong reasons”. Geneviève Darrieussecq said she was “upset and perplexed”. Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said he was in favor of Jérôme Guedj's amendment being “returned to deliberation” following the parliamentary shuttle.
The deputies, on the other hand, adopted an amendment from the ecologist Sabrina Sebaihi, aiming to introduce a tax on added sugars in processed food products, this time with the support of the rebels, and against the advice of the government.
