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Taxes on alcohol: in committee, deputies take away the cap from will increase aligned with inflation

Members of the Social Affairs Committee adopted amendments to the Social Security funds to take away the cap on the indexation of alcohol taxes to inflation, which can not exceed +1.75% based on present laws. The vote will, nonetheless, be replayed within the hemicycle, the place the deputies will begin from the federal government’s preliminary copy.

“Every year, alcohol taxes are reassessed based on inflation (…) The law says it can only go up to 1.75%. If inflation is above 1.75%, alcohol duties increase less »summarized MP Hadrien Clouet (La France insoumise), author of one of the adopted amendments.

The other amendments aimed at removing this ceiling were supported by ecologists, socialists and the president of the commission, Frédéric Valletoux (Horizons, party of Edouard Philippe). The latter invoked the medical sector which alerts “on the damage caused by addictions to tobacco, alcohol and drugs” and in reality “that everything is not the responsibility, only of consumers”.

The common rapporteur for the Social Security funds, Thibault Bazin (Les Républicains), estimated that the measure would haven’t any rapid impact, with inflation forecasts for 2026 hovering round 1.3%, and that it could not resolve different points, such because the publicity of minors to alcohol by means of on-line gross sales or parallel markets.

MEPs will proceed on Wednesday morning to look at so-called tax amendments “behavioral” (on alcohol, tobacco, and so forth.).

On Tuesday, they adopted an modification to broaden the scope of a tax on “premix” (mixing alcohol and really candy non-alcoholic drinks), to have an effect on merchandise containing as much as 25% alcohol, nonetheless dividing on the appropriateness of the tax lever.

Annie Vidal (Renaissance) pleaded for “a real policy to fight against addictions”fearing {that a} tax wouldn’t have the anticipated impact. “The price has a disincentive effect”estimated, quite the opposite, the socialist Béatrice Bellay.

Christophe Bentz (National Rally) defined that his group would oppose so-called behavioral taxes, which “are a form of admission of failure of successive governments” And “will attack the purchasing power of the French very hard”.

https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/live/2025/10/29/en-direct-budget-2026-les-dernieres-informations-et-reactions_6649172_823448.html