Although postponed to September 3 to focus all the attention on a back to school promising to be perilous, the presentation of the recovery plan was invited in broad outline at the University of Medef on Wednesday at the Longchamp racecourse.
"It is imperative for us to restart the engine", pleaded Prime Minister Jean Castex to the employers during a speech of an hour punctuated by a few announcements, in particular on the extension of short-time working or on a reduction in taxes in companies.
Partial unemployment maintained until November 1
After affecting up to 8.8 million workers in April, in the heart of the confinement, partial unemployment still affected nearly 2.5 million employees last month. "The concern to ensure continued employment in companies has been privileged since the start of the pandemic," said Jean Castex. "The partial activity will remain open under current conditions at least until November 1".
For the most affected economic sectors, such as culture or tourism, “they will retain access to partial activity until the end of the year”. Partial unemployment could even last beyond that and remain in force “for two years for all companies covered by an agreement on long-term partial activity”.
"Pragmatic solutions" for the mask in business
Before Jean Castex's speech, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, the boss of the bosses, called on the government to leave “flexibility” to companies concerning the obligation to wear a mask in the workplace from the 1st September. While assuring that it was "essential to apply this obligation in the professional environment", the Prime Minister in turn opened the door to adjustments after the referral to the High Council of Public Health by his Minister of Labor Élisabeth Borne.
"I am fully aware of the difficulties entailed by the implementation of this measure," he said. "I think I can tell you that there will be room for pragmatic solutions," added Jean Castex, promising that "the rules will be clarified and complete by September 1".
Ten billion euros less tax per year for companies
The recovery plan of 100 billion euros will consist in particular of a significant reduction in taxes for companies, said Jean Castex. "To boost production in our territories, we are going to lower production taxes to the tune of 10 billion euros per year from January 1," he summed up.
Jean Castex: "From January 1, 2021, we will lower production taxes to 10 billion" pic.twitter.com/aH3crrmaGb
- BFMTV (@BFMTV) August 26, 2020This reduction will take three forms, one of them consisting of a division by two of the CVAE, the contribution on the added value of companies in order to "reduce the weight of this tax which relates in particular to employment and investment ”. This reform should be adopted in the next finance bill. Another aspect is the taxation of industrial premises, the method of which "will be radically reformed with the objective of halving the tax burden on these premises".
