The Secretary of State for the Economy Agnès Pannier-Runacher estimated Wednesday that restructuring should be accepted at Renault, which will benefit from a loan guaranteed by the State of 5 billion euros.
Read also: Renault: the state guarantee for the loan granted without "very difficult constraints"
" We are supporting Renault in one of the most serious crises in its history, and to do this, we must accept that there is a part of restructuring, " she said at the microphone of France Inter. " These are jobs that are cut, it's not people who leave, it's not people who are unemployed overnight, " she said.
" I was too marked in my youth by the job cuts in the steel industry, textiles, where we started by saying nothing is going to happen and finally we watched from whole swathes of the economy ", recalled the minister.
Asked if the government made the commitment that there would be no dry layoffs at Renault, as promised by its president Jean-Dominique Senard, Agnès Pannier-Runacher said: " Above all, I send him this commitment ”.
" We pushed him to his limits and we pushed Renault to reconsider very clearly, for example the question of Maubeuge, " she added.
The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire congratulated Tuesday for having obtained the preservation of employment and industrial capacity on the site of Maubeuge (North), threatened with merger with that of Douai.
In financial difficulty and victim of the collapse of the car market, Renault announced Friday the loss of 15,000 jobs worldwide, including 4,600 in France, with voluntary departures and without layoffs, as part of an economy plan until 'in 2023.
Read also: Renault Maubeuge: activity and employment would be maintained "beyond 2023"
Of the 14 industrial sites of Renault in France, only one is definitely doomed to closure, that of Choisy-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne) whose employees went on strike Tuesday against the transfer of activity from recycling planned to Flins (Yvelines).