Anyone studying in France can now get a hot meal for just 1 euro. From now on, the French government will treat all students to dirt-cheap meals that were previously only intended for scholarship students.
Source: BFMTV, France3, RMC, Le Figaro
From this week, all students in France, regardless of their parents’ income, can go to the CROUS restaurants (the French university dining halls) for a meal of 1 euro. They can eat there both in the afternoon and in the evening.
Previously, a meal cost 3.30 euros for non-scholarship students. To benefit from the reduced rate, an online account with the operator is sufficient. Doctoral students and young people completing civilian service are now also entitled to it.
Government pays 89 percent
A standard meal in the university restaurant actually costs 9 euros to prepare. The government is now making up the difference en masse and has made 50 million euros available for this purpose.
This is unreasonable given the current French budget situation
“What will change is that the state will pay 89 percent of the price of the meal,” said a report on the YouTube channel of the French news channel BFMTV.
Now that every student can take advantage of the sample discount, restaurants expect a huge influx
Although the measure has been met with much cheer, the operators are concerned about its feasibility. Now that suddenly every student can take advantage of the sample discount, the restaurants are expecting a huge influx. Universities fear that they will not be able to keep up with the sudden increase in demand with their current staffing levels.
However, not everyone is happy with the measure. “This is unreasonable given the current French budget situation,” said Baptiste Gilli, president of the UNI student union, in ‘Le Figaro’. Last year, around 662,000 scholarship students were eligible for the 1 euro meals, now there are suddenly 3 million students. According to Gilli, there are students for whom paying 3.30 euros is no problem.
Sky-high national debt
France is struggling with a sky-high national debt and a dangerously derailing budget deficit. This financial malaise is an extremely explosive theme in Paris, where protracted budget problems have brought down several governments in recent years.
