Prime Minister Jean Castex, during a press conference in Paris on October 29, 2020. -

Ian LANGSDON / POOL / AFP

  • Faced with the rebellion of small traders, who deplore being forced to close during the second confinement while supermarkets can remain open, the government reacted on Sunday.

    Jean Castex announced the closure of shelves selling “non-essential” goods in supermarkets.

  • This decision, far from calming the discontent of traders, sparked new sensitive debates on Monday, both on the competition of online commerce and on the arbitrary nature of this choice, the government to publish on Tuesday a decree listing the "essential goods" ".

  • The measure is due to enter into force on Wednesday, amid contestation of restrictions linked to the re-containment.

Covered shelves and lots of questions.

Confusion reigned on Monday in some supermarkets, after the announcement, Sunday evening, of the ban on selling "non-essential" products, as part of the new confinement.

Questioned by traders and elected officials, the government wanted to take a measure of "fairness" between specialized stores, forced to close to the public, and large distribution, whose stores remain open because they sell food in particular.

But he failed to close a debate revealing a lack of adherence to these new health restrictions.

Because his solution satisfies (almost) no one

Since the announcement of the reconfinement on October 28, forums and appeals have multiplied to keep local shops open, with appropriate health protocols.

The government ruled out this option, preferring to ban the sale from Wednesday, in supermarkets, "products which (...) are already banned in local shops", in the name of "fairness".

Thus, it will be forbidden to offer books there, since bookstores do not have the right to open, and so on for flowers or toys.

After this announcement, the critics redoubled.

The Federation of mass distribution (FCD) deplored a “lose-lose” solution.

"By closing certain shelves in mass distribution, the government is embarrassing low-income families without resolving the difficulties of local shops," lamented on Twitter Dominique Bussereau, president of the Assembly of departments of France.

For the UFC-Que Choisir, it is “a heresy”.

For its president, “the criterion of essential goods, instead of that of the ability to regulate flows, ensure distance, etc.

lack of relevance, beyond the fact that it is arbitrary.

"

As for the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, he criticized the government for not having conducted “any consultation” with the representatives of supermarket employees.

Those who work in "a department that is not food" do not know what they will do "next week", he lamented.

Because the debate on the "essential" character of goods is a puzzle

The government also found itself embroiled in a debate on whether or not certain goods were "essential".

Faced with the many questions on a particular product or activity, he planned to publish a decree on Tuesday specifying the details of the products that can be sold or not, which will be based on the list of shops authorized to open, established on March 15 by decree ministerial.

A site that takes on the air of a Kafkaesque Prévert list.

Thus, the minister delegate in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises, Alain Griset, clarified this Monday on France Info that "hygiene products will be kept [in the shelves of supermarkets], makeup not", while they are often sold side by side.

In the book sector, we continue to claim the "essential" character of cultural goods to plead the reopening of bookstores, while toy merchants and florists have announced the filing of appeals against their closure before the Council of State.

Because this decision is considered "above ground" by the opposition and local elected officials

This debate on businesses also fuels criticism against an executive often considered "disconnected" or too "technocratic" since the start of the five-year term.

“If I understood correctly, we prohibit the sale in supermarkets of non-essential products, then we delay these purchases on Amazon or others and in this way we help our local businesses.

Frankly, it's not serious!

The Techno-hygienists have taken power!

The mayor Les Républicains de Reims, Arnaud Robinet, gets carried away on Twitter.

The deputy of Hauts-de-Seine Frédérique Dumas, ex-La République en Marche, also deplores a decision "above ground": "It is disconnected from the health reality, because there are places where the virus circulates more than in shops, for example classrooms with around thirty students, ”points out the elected representative of the Libertés et Territoires group.

"And it is disconnected from the economic and social reality, because businesses and cultural places today have the feeling that all the efforts that were asked of them in May to set up health protocols are in vain."

Because it does not solve the thorny issue of Gafa

The deputy Frédérique Dumas denounces, like many elected officials, the unfair competition of the giants of online sales, over which the government has little control.

If the Minister for Industry Agnès Pannier-Runacher said Saturday on Europe 1 to have "asked Amazon to suspend the campaign on pre-Black Friday", a promotion period at the end of the month of November, the group simply told AFP that he was going to suspend his communication campaign.

#JeanCastex announcements yesterday on the general ban on #commerce said not essential.

It does not make sense if we do not tax, finally, online commerce

- Bertrand Pancher (@BertrandPancher) November 2, 2020

Because the anger of traders does not abate

"In March, no one had complained about traders," sighs in Bercy, where the list of goods is being drawn up on Monday.

"It is through the anger of traders that we see that adherence to the second confinement is not the same, that the relationship to the disease has changed, which can also pose problems to stop it ", Continues in the entourage of Bruno Le Maire, who says" to have anticipated a rejection "of the decision to close the shops.

To appease the anger of traders, the ministry relies in particular on financial aid, upgraded compared to the first confinement: up to 10,000 euros per month per trade.

As a consolation prize, the Minister of Culture also announced on Monday that postal rates will be “considerably reduced” for shipments of books ordered from bookstores.

On the side of traders, we cling to the hope of raising the curtain in mid-November, when health measures will be reviewed by the executive.

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