By announcing on October 28 a reconfinement of the whole country for a month, Emmanuel Macron had left a glimmer of hope for the 200,000 so-called “non-essential” businesses that were forced to close.
"Every fortnight, we will take stock", announced the Head of State.
The deadline of November 12 is therefore looming, after ten days marked by strong tensions.
Orders of mayors against the closure, demonstrations by angry traders, rebellious shops that have remained open despite everything ... The grumbling has escalated.
And if Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, insists throughout interviews that he "understands the anger and distress of traders", that is no longer enough.
We must decide.
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But after a week of meetings, where more than fifteen professional federations were received at Bercy, several scenarios are on the table.
The first, that of a partial reopening from November 12, is no longer really envisaged.
“It will not be this week, slips a senior official of the Ministry of the Economy.
When we see that the hospitals are saturated, it would make no sense.
"In the entourage of the Prime Minister, we drive the point home:" There is a Defense Council Thursday, the hypothesis is rather that of an additional turn of the screw. "
Objective: save Christmas
This Monday morning, Bruno Le Maire, Alain Griset, the Minister in charge of VSE-SMEs, and Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, received the employers' organizations to warn them of almost inevitable bad news.
The traders and the local elected officials do not have any illusions.
"We do not hope for much", recognizes Philippe Laurent, LR mayor of Sceaux (Hauts-de-Seine) and president of the association for the revitalization of city centers.
"This week of meeting with representatives of the federations was not just cuddling," insists Matignon.
Bercy did a job of listening and prepared the rest, with exemplary health protocols ”.
Because here is the second scenario on which the white collar workers are working: organizing the reopening, a priori at the beginning of December.
"If the epidemiological curve is reversed, we will be able to initiate in two weeks a deconfinement of non-essential businesses", we hope in the entourage of Bruno Le Maire.
This is exactly what some traders want.
“In view of the health situation, we prefer to stay closed until December 1 if that saves Christmas!
», Loose Martine Benreguel, co-president of the National Craft Confederation of Beauty Institutes.
Appointment required?
Several devices are already being considered to allow businesses to reopen: to increase the tonnage from 4 square meters per customer "to around 10 square meters", says one at Bercy, and make it compulsory to make an appointment.
If the small traders applaud, the big brands, like Fnac-Darty or others, are worried.
"If the obligatory meeting is well suited to small structures, for larger ones it is not profitable because it amounts to having one customer per seller", indicates Emmanuel Le Roch, the general delegate of Procos, the federation of specialized trade. .
The other solution put forward in the Bercy package would be to allow generalized opening of shops on Sundays.
It would also be preferred to the track of extended hours which "would cost more to businesses", the ministry was told.
Will all of this be enough to save the holiday season and avoid business bankruptcies?
"Many independent traders, especially clothing or decoration stores, are in bad shape," warns Philippe Laurent.
They need more help.
This is the third scenario, parallel to the second: the Solidarity Fund of 10,000 euros could be revised upwards for certain businesses.
For "toy stores, decoration or even perfumers, this is not enough", we recognize at Bercy.
If the stocks already ordered do not run out during the holidays, some businesses may well lower the curtain… definitely.
The thorny case of restaurateurs
They demonstrated Friday in Toulouse or Monday in Lyon.
Restaurant owners are longing to be able to earn their money again.
"If certain businesses reopen, we are delighted and we would not understand to remain closed given the extremely strict sanitary protocol that we have put in place and to the extent that no one has been able to prove to date that the contamination was occurring. in our establishments ”, underlines Didier Chenet, President of the National Group of Independents (GNI-HCR).
But Matignon does not seem to share the same opinion: "Regarding bars and restaurants, the deadline is always the one set for the end of confinement", insists in those around Jean Castex.
"The possibilities of flexibility are much less great than for small businesses, because these are places where one is present without a mask," said a senior official.
At Bercy, we even get annoyed: “This is not a subject, it would not be serious.
Even if we are well aware of the situation of bars and restaurants today, it is inconceivable to reopen them before the end of confinement.
Either way, people wouldn't be allowed to go.
“At the end of the first confinement, the Umih estimated that around 15% of restaurateurs could go out of business because of the health crisis.
"This figure could reach 30%", feared its vice-president Jean Terlon at the announcement of the second confinement.
