France: the economic recovery plan greeted with caution
Prime Minister Jean Castex and Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire in the foreground, September 3, 2020. Ludovic Marin / Reuters
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8 min
In France, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, presented Thursday, September 3 a plan of 100 billion euros to revive the French economy, damaged by the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.
In the political and social landscape, this announcement is rather well seen, but many media figures remain measured.
Some reservations are noted, in particular with regard to the required counterparts.
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One hundred billion euros for the next two years, including 30 billion euros for ecological transition and 35 billion euros for competitiveness, as well as a reduction in taxes for companies: this is
a relaunch plan of
"
ambition and historic scope
" presented Thursday, September 3 by Jean Castex.
After the coronavirus and containment crisis that hit France in 2020, the government unveils its strategy to revive the economy.
His plan will be debated, presented probably in October to the European Union, and in place for 2021 normally.
What do political groups, NGOs, research institutes and unions think about it?
As a whole, they reserve a rather benevolent reception to the announcements of the head of government.
But they do not omit some criticisms.
"
How do we finance this plan?
"
For
Damien Abad
, “
this plan is necessary, given the economic situation in which France finds itself
”.
The boss of deputies The Republicans, however, has two complaints.
The first concerns the timetable and the "
late character
" of the implementation of the recovery plan.
"
I think it must be implemented in the fall and not early 2021, for there to be an immediate effect on businesses,
" he says.
Then, Damien Abad regrets that this plan is present "
in a climate of absolute gloom
", with the concerns related to the increase in Covid-19 cases and a map of the departments which is colored in red.
“
It creates a climate of confusion and uncertainty,
” he thinks.
The member for Ain also raises "
the thorny question of funding
".
“
There is no magic money, so we have to tell us how we finance this plan.
If we are not told, that means taxes on the backs of the French tomorrow,
”he warns.
There is also the thorny issue of funding.
There is no magic money, so we must tell us how we finance this plan.
If we are not told, that means taxes on the backs of the French tomorrow.
Damien Abad: "This plan must be implemented in the fall and not early 2021"
Anne Soetemondt
Philippe Martinez
, he wonders about the employment of young people.
The secretary general of the CGT estimates that the billions of euros planned will be "
first aid to companies
".
He would like more conditions: “
On the employment of young people, for example, the 4,000 or 8,000 euros are not conditional on hiring on a permanent contract.
However, we saw that when they left confinement, who drank, if I may say so?
The 600,000/700,000 more unemployed are the young, the precarious, the temporary workers.
It takes money, but conditioned.
What is taxpayer money for if it is given to businesses?
We gave money to Air France and Renault, and the consequence is job cuts.
Will public aid be used for that?
"
What is taxpayer money for if it is given to businesses?
Philippe Martinez: "You need money, but conditioned"
Bruno Faure
Support for ecological transition, welcomed and moderate
The recovery plan provides for 30 billion euros for the greening of the economy.
"
This is a historic opportunity to invest for the ecological and social transition
," says
Jean-Baptiste Lebrun, director of the CLER
(Network for the energy transition).
The project expects 6.7 billion euros for thermal renovation, 4.7 billion euros for rail, 2 billion euros for hydrogen and a little over one billion euros for agriculture and food.
But some non-governmental organizations regret the absence of targets for reducing road or air traffic, or the fact that the plan is still based on nuclear power, for example.
Greenpeace
points to a certain “
anachronism
”, and a missed opportunity to break with a highly carbon-based productivist economy, incompatible with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
For
Alain Coulombel, spokesperson for Europe Écologie Les Verts
, these 30 billion euros constitute "
good news
".
But he regrets that "
the conditions given to this signposting towards ecological transition are still very vague
".
“
What we regret, overall, is that this ecological transition is not transversal to all of the country's economic and industrial policies.
It is a plan which pursues several objectives at the same time, and objectives which are partly contradictory,
”he observes.
Sébastien Treyer, from IDDRI
(Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations), nevertheless underlines that "this
is an important signal
", but that "
it remains to specify the implementation, which should be accompanied by a deeper transformation of our economic model
”.
► See also
: France: the government presents its plan to revive the economy
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