According to the annual study by the firm Trendeo, which our economic columnist Nicolas Barré reveals exclusively on Tuesday, the French industry has experienced for the first time in three years a greater number of plant closures than creations in 2020. But some reasons for optimism remain.
The health crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic has turned for many months now into an economic crisis.
And it inevitably has a major impact on French industry.
And for the first time in three years, there were more closures last year than new factories.
According to the research firm Trendeo, which publishes the balance of creations and plant closures in France every year, a study that economic editorialist Nicolas Barré reveals exclusively on Tuesday, France lost 22 plants in 2020.
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Given the magnitude of the economic shock, we can say that the damage could have been even greater and this is undoubtedly what must be remembered: last year, nearly 15,000 jobs were lost in the industry. .
But in 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis, and while the recession had been much less severe, our industry had lost three times as many jobs at the time.
This means that, somewhere, the industry has taken the shock.
Sectors of activity unequally affected
What characterizes this Covid crisis is in particular that it hits sectors of activity very unevenly, unlike a more classic recession.
Aerospace, for example, has been hit much more than most other sectors, with job losses by the thousands at Airbus, Daher, Akka Technologies and others.
Conversely, the food industry, packaging, electronics have been pulled up.
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What has also enabled the industry to hold out is of course public aid and in particular the evolution of the Brussels doctrine: the ceiling for direct aid to a company has been reduced from 200,000 to 800,000 euros.
Suddenly, the firm Trendeo notes a multiplication of projects to 800.00 euros in SMEs, 221 last year.
Including relocation projects.
To relocate, you have to simplify the procedures
But in terms of relocation precisely, great efforts remain to be made.
First of all, there is a lack of sites ready to accommodate an industrial activity, especially when it is an important activity: we need land for which there has already been a study of the fauna and flora carried out, otherwise you will have it for months or even years.
Then, even if we have improved (a little), administrative procedures and public inquiries are longer and finicky in France than elsewhere.
And appeals are more frequent, which further extends the delays and therefore the costs of investments.
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We must finally overcome local reluctance: the French are for industry, but not close to home.
Even though the industry today is subject to such standards that it creates infinitely less nuisance than 20 or 30 years ago.
If we really want to stop deindustrialisation and relocate certain productions in France, we will have to clean up these administrative constraints.
Otherwise, the industrial world will move forward without us.