The battle for the opening of shops on November 27, the day of "Black Friday", is engaged.
And in the camp of traders is the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
However, indicators of the coronavirus epidemic remain, for the time being, too bad for businesses to reopen, according to the government.
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, declared on Tuesday about the coronavirus epidemic: "We have started the decrease of the epidemic but it is too early to relax or stop the efforts."
It is in this context that traders have just started the battle of November 27, the day of "Black Friday" for online sales and weekend eve.
However, the government does not plan, for the moment, to reopen before Tuesday, December 1.
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It's hard to say who will win the game.
On the one hand, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, would like to open as soon as possible depending on sanitary conditions.
For him, a whole sector is financially in agony today.
One more weekend may seem trivial, but it is not just any weekend.
Friday November 27 is the day of "Black Friday" we will then be one month away from Christmas, which traditionally means that the turnover of shops is doubled or more.
"The door is not completely closed"
On the other side is the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, for whom the priority is to fight against the epidemic.
According to him, for the moment, nothing suggests that the businesses will be able to reopen on November 27.
The fear lies in the fact of opening too early and then having to urgently close before Christmas.
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The arbiter of this standoff is none other than the Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
And his position is clear: epidemic indicators remain our compass.
The balance therefore tilts in the side of Olivier Véran but according to a source close to the government, "the door is not completely closed if we had a pleasant surprise in terms of health next week".