Employee representatives of the Institut National de la Consommation (INC), which publishes the magazine 60 millions de consommateurshave asked for urgent help from the government of Michel BarnierOtherwise, INC “won’t make it past 2025”.in a letter consulted by AFP on Friday. “On May 2, we were informed by the French Minister for Business, Tourism and Consumer Affairs”. Olivia Grégoire, “that a rebound scenario for INC had finally been chosen”.wrote employee representatives in a letter addressed to the new government team, consulted on Friday.

However, this seems “called into question”they continue. They are asking Prime Minister Michel Barnier, Economy Minister Antoine Armand, and Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs Laurence Garnier, if it is possible for them to “count on the State’s financial contribution of 3.2 million euros as promised?” “If not, considering the state of our cash flow, it’s certain that INC won’t make it past 2025.”assert the representatives of the fifty or so people working at the public establishment based in Malakoff, Hauts-de-Seine.

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Employees of 60 Millions de consommateurs magazine call for the title to be “saved

An “extremely perilous” situation

According to Bertrand Loiseaux, a member of the CSE interviewed by AFP on Friday, the INC’s budget for 2025 is due to be presented to the CSE on Tuesday November 19, prior to a board meeting scheduled for the end of the month. In the absence of visibility on the aid granted by the State, in particular for the public service mission performed by the INC, its situation could rapidly become untenable. “extremely perilous”. due to a lack of cash “shrinking like a stone”.according to Bertrand Loiseaux.

Last March, employee representatives had called for “save” 60 millions de consommateurs, a newspaper founded in 1970 and “in peril due to insufficient investment. A parliamentary report in 2022 referred to a “gradual reduction in the amount of subsidy”. to INC between 2012 and 2020, from 6.3 million euros to 2.7 million euros.

Set up in 1966, the INC is responsible for ensuring that consumers are properly informed, and for “promote responsible consumption. It includes a center for comparative testing of products and services, as well as a legal and economic studies department,” it explains on its website. When contacted by AFP on Friday, the company’s management did not immediately respond.