This is the cost of a social revolt of nearly 8 months. The parliamentary inquiry mission on the economic report of the yellow vests gave its report Wednesday morning. INSEE already mentioned a cost equivalent to 0.1% of GDP, or two billion euros. With this new report, we can now have an idea of the concrete consequences of the movement on different sectors of the economy.
From downtown shops to the impact on tourism, through the overtime of law enforcement: the crisis has affected many sectors. The movement of "yellow vests" had a relatively "moderate" overall impact on the French economy but resulted in "considerable" or "indelible" costs for some companies or sectors of activity, the report concludes.
Two billion euros of losses for shopping centers
Locally, the impact has been heavy and what has been lost is not catching up, say the parliamentarians. First of all, the shopping centers were hit by two billion euros of losses. The crisis then moved to the city centers. In Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux or Rouen, businesses saw their turnover drop by 20 to 30%. Tourism has also been impacted. Hotels, restaurants and cafes lost 850 million euros. The following are also affected: VSEs and SMEs in the construction and transport sector.
All of this has had an impact on employment, with non-renewed fixed-term contracts or delayed recruitment, for example. And then there was partial unemployment: Occitanie alone concentrated nearly a third of applications.
An additional cost for the public authorities also
Communities, too, had to put their hands in their pockets to repair the damage (destruction of garbage cans or parking meters for example), not to mention the losses recorded on the public transport networks. A global bill estimated at 30 million euros by the association France Urbaine.
Finally, for the state, it is not neutral either: it was necessary to pay overtime to the forces of the order mobilized every Saturday, for a total of 46 million euros. The refurbishment of the radars will cost 71 million euros.
Parliamentarians ask for new help
The authors of this parliamentary report do not just make a statement, they make proposals. First of all, they want the government's exceptional measures to be extended to the most affected companies, which include staggered burdens. Parliamentarians are also calling for new aid schemes, such as an exceptional exemption from social security contributions or a specific tax credit for companies that did not make a profit during the crisis.
The parliamentarians also relay a concern: on the ground, the economic world remains cautious, nobody considering that the movement of the yellow vests is completely finished.