The mechanism to support the rents of certain stores closed between February and May, promised by the government, has been authorized by the European Commission, the Ministry of the Economy announced on Tuesday.
Read also Covid-19: Has the state helped companies too much?
The aid is intended in particular for companies which have had to close some of their stores located in shopping centers, closed to the public from February until the end of the third confinement, and which will thus be able to receive aid corresponding to the sum of rents and charges for closed shops.
"
Eligibility for aid is assessed month by month with regard to the aid already obtained by the company
", specifies Bercy in its press release.
"
A few hundred companies concerned
"
In practice, it will be reserved for companies which have exceeded the ceilings of the solidarity fund (1.8 million euros) or of the “
fixed costs
” system (10 million), or which could not benefit from it because their loss of turnover was less than 50%.
Contacted by AFP, the Ministry of the Economy specifies that "a
few hundred
" companies are targeted by this new "
rents
" device, and that it will be endowed with a maximum envelope of 700 million euros.
Announced last February by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, the payment of this aid had been eagerly awaited by traders, but it could not be implemented without the approval of the European Commission.
“
Commitment kept,
” said Bruno Le Maire in the press release.
Read alsoFuels: announcements are expected "by the end of the week", says Attal
To qualify for the “
rents
” device, companies will have to apply online to the General Directorate of Public Finance from mid-November.
"
A decree published in the coming days will specify the terms of this device,
" said the Ministry of the Economy.
