A commission of experts is proposing to extend the sales

The working group set up to study the Bercy "mechanisms of reduced prices" advocates to organize two weeks of additional sales.

On the whole, the working group established in January by the Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde to reflect on "mechanisms of reduced prices" does not propose any major changes in terms of sales. In its interim report the commission of experts, composed for the most part merchants and their representatives, and consumer associations, advocates maintaining the two big sales periods per year, with fixed dates, with "exceptional waivers" for tourist areas or border.

However, the working group proposes to "authorize each school to practice two weeks of sales per year, the dates of his choice," according to AFP. This innovation could be tested first in two regions, according to Le Figaro. The Minister for the Economy had voted for the extension of the sales period, causing an outcry among traders.

The task force, whose final proposals should be announced in late March, also decides in favour of setting up a price comparison in the food trade. Such a device, while the controversy over the increases in supermarkets is in full swing, would provide "consumers impartial information and as exhaustively as possible on prices, experts agree.