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The Head of State receives Friday morning, at the Elysée, professionals in the restaurant and hotel industry. A sector devastated by the coronavirus epidemic, stopped since March 15, and which for the moment has no horizon of official recovery. It will not be May 11, like many other businesses. The restaurateurs will come with very specific proposals.
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So there will be two components, economic and health. The restaurants no longer have any cash, operating losses must be covered: "a third by the State, a third by insurance, a third by the owners". A solution that appeals to the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
Among the other proposals, the extension of the aid measures granted by the State: postponement of employers' charges, recourse to simplified and reinforced short-time working. And then a specific effort for the smallest, most fragile structures, with the deferral of the payment of rents and invoices.
"We are going to see crowded public transport and we would like to prevent us from opening"
According to our information, some restaurateurs will ask the President of the Republic to allow the arrival in France of tourists from the Schengen area. They explain that they will certainly be able to last a few weeks thanks to French customers, but that there will very quickly be a need for the return of foreign customers and their wallets.
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And then there is the health aspect. The restaurateurs ask for a precise protocol. What distancing? How many clients? What protective equipment? Well aware that health will be the number 1 issue, some restaurateurs will still ask not to be victims of sanitary zeal. One of them said to us: "Are we going to see crowded public transport and want to prevent us from opening?". They will also ask for a reopening date, which date should be officially notified to them within 15 days.