What aftermath will the Covid crisis leave on our industry?

For the first time in three years, there were more closures last year than new factories.

France lost 22 factories last year, according to the research firm Trendeo, which publishes every year the balance of creations and plant closures in France.

Given the magnitude of the economic shock, we can say that the damage could have been even greater and that is probably what should be remembered.

Last year almost 15,000 jobs were cut 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.

It means that, somewhere, the industry has taken the shock.

What characterizes this Covid crisis is in particular that it affects sectors of activity very unevenly, unlike a more classic recession: aeronautics, for example, has been much more affected 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.

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.

What is missing to further relocate production?

First, sites ready to accommodate an industrial activity, especially when it is a major activity: you need land for which there has already been a study of the fauna and flora carried out, otherwise you have it for months or even years.

Then, even if we have (a little) improved, 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.

Local reluctance must also be overcome: the French are for industry, but not close to home.

While 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.