Paris (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday measures to cushion the shock of the crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus by supporting partial unemployment in particular, without giving the cost and pending a coordinated recovery plan within the EU.

"We will not add to the health difficulties (posed by the coronavirus) the fear of bankruptcy for entrepreneurs, the fear of unemployment and the anxiety of the difficult end of the month for employees," said the President of the Republic during a TV address.

"Everything will be done to protect our employees and our companies, whatever the cost," he said, without giving further details on the cost of the measures announced or their consequences on the public deficit.

First hit by shutdown of Chinese factories to fight coronavirus - measures that disrupted supply chains - companies are now facing a drop in demand caused by containment measures taken by different countries.

Faced with this situation and the requests for emergency measures expressed in particular by Medef, Mr. Macron announced that, "in the coming days, an exceptional and massive mechanism of partial unemployment will be implemented".

He assured that the device would go "much further than the measures already announced by the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, and that of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, to support businesses.

"The state will pay compensation to employees forced to stay at home," he said.

"All companies who wish to can postpone without justification, without formality, without penalty, the payment of contributions and taxes due in March," he added.

- A "German" answer -

For Philippe Waechter, chief economist at Ostrum Asset Management, these measures are "an airbag" to cushion the shock of the crisis. "We are in the idea of ​​a strong and temporary shock, the economy will then return to the previous situation. The question is how long it will last," he told AFP.

Macron drew inspiration from the way Germany handled the 2008 financial crisis, using massive short-time working, thereby avoiding layoffs to allow companies to quickly recover production capacity, says economist Macron. upon economic recovery.

The French president also cited the example of the neighboring country during his speech: "I want us to be inspired by what the Germans have known, for example, to implement with a more generous system, simpler than the our".

"This is the best way to pool the risk," said Waechter.

However, Mr. Macron has not yet announced a fiscal stimulus package as requested by financial institutions like the IMF or the OECD to restart the economy. He limited himself to announcing his preparation and launching an appeal to the EU.

"I have asked the government to prepare a national and European recovery plan that is consistent with our priorities and commitments for the future," he said, without giving further details.

Europe must react "quickly and loudly," he insisted, saying that the announcements from the European Central Bank (ECB), released a few hours earlier, would not be enough to deal with the crisis.

"We Europeans will not allow a financial and economic crisis to spread, we will react strongly and we will react quickly, all European governments must take the decisions to support activity and then relaunch, whatever it costs ".

The president also insisted on the need to coordinate efforts. "It is not the division that will allow us to respond to what is today a global crisis but rather our ability to see right".

Mr. Le Maire has already recognized a "severe" impact of the coronavirus crisis on the French economy and now expects growth of less than 1%, instead of the 1.3% initially forecast by the government.

© 2020 AFP