Biarritz (AFP)
Secretary of State for Economy and Finance Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced Thursday in Biarritz the release of a "first envelope" of 350,000 euros to compensate traders whose activity was affected by the G7 summit ( August 24-26).
"We want to salute the traders who are not public officials, but who played the game by remaining open during the four days of the summit.It is legitimate to compensate them," said Ms. Pannier-Runacher to the press, before the Hotel Bellevue, one of the places that hosted meetings of heads of state.
This envelope, which should be paid before November 1, was "not closed," she said. "It is immediately available because the challenge is to go fast".
Compensation, based on the gross margin, will be calculated over the four days when Biarritz was closed.
The secretary of state had previously visited some shops in Biarritz, especially those located in the red zone, where security was maximum and where only badly marked people could enter.
Manager of the House of the press, in the red zone, Patrick Darrigade told him to have "lost 28,000 euros over four days." With such a loss, I am in deficit at the end of the year, "slipped the trader, who closed during the G7.
"It was the worst week for this summit," said Joëlle Vachet, manager of a clothing store, in front of the secretary of state.
- "First stage" -
Later in the day, after meetings with local politicians, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and merchant groups, Pannier-Runacher said that "we should not limit compensation) to the red zone of Biarritz ".
"We made the common point by municipality and we saw that there were differentiated situations, everyone played the game and there may have been consequences outside this red zone," she said. , citing the towns of Bayonne, Anglet, Hendaye and Bidart, neighboring Biarritz.
"The common feeling is that this first envelope is only a first step," she said.
According to the secretary of state, the sum corresponds "more or less to the money that could be paid to merchants during the work of Notre-Dame de Paris or during the experience of yellow vests".
It will, however, be subject to conditions: "There is no ambiguity about the traders who have been opened, but there are also some who have opened and realized that they could not work. their provisions upstream and which were closed, there will be no compensation.
"The objective is also to have something fair, with respect to all the interventions that we have been able to do after Notre-Dame or with the yellow vests, because for the traders who have suffered yellow vests, say that there is a specific treatment for Biarritz, it would be questionable, "said Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
© 2019 AFP