INVESTIGATION
The lack of preparation of French companies for Brexit worries the financial authorities. As revealed by a survey conducted by the Ministry of the Economy and unveiled on Sunday by Europe 1 and Le Journal du dimanche , a French business leader in two has not yet studied the impact of Brexit for his company, while only seven out of ten French companies with a subsidiary in the Channel have put themselves in conditions.
At the Ministry of Economy, there is concern about this level of unpreparedness. Of the 30,000 French companies that export to Britain, only 10,000 have used the tool put online by Bercy to know if they were ready, and only 5,000 to have followed training with French customs. But, since a few days and while the serial continues in the Channel, Bercy notes a small sense of urgency, since these workshops finally show complete.
"We are sold out for the five workshops we organized with thirty Paris operators.People have understood that the Brexit could potentially start rather quickly, and want, in all cases, to have control of formalities Customs to be carried out with third countries to the European Union, "explains, at the microphone of Europe 1 Franck Lacroix, who heads the customs of Paris.
"It's going to be a huge bazaar"
For these companies trying to prepare, the big worry is to be able to send their products to Britain without difficulty. And in Bercy, the unpreparedness of our European neighbors, whose trucks pass through French ports, is also a source of stress.
"If they are not ready, it will be a huge bazaar," says Europe 1 an official of the Ministry of Finance. Today, 80% of European goods going to Britain pass through France, which is four million trucks each year. So, if tomorrow, these heavyweights are stuck in Calais because they are not menstruating, it is paralysis. This is feared Gary Haworth, who runs an SME and whose business model is based on delivery times. "We have delivery slots with a 30-minute allowance," he told Europe 1. "That means if you have a truck stuck in the harbor for a few hours, it's hard to guarantee that we'll be able to meet those demands. slots, and in this case, it can trigger late penalties. "
To avoid this worst-case scenario, French Customs is offering training courses to transport companies in Eastern Europe. But impossible, one says to Bercy, to know how many foreign companies are really ready today.