“
When you are a trader and you have a bank knife in your throat, you no longer know where you are.
This is why the situation is explosive.
"The day after Jean Castex's intervention on TF1, Michel Fournier, first vice-president of the Association of rural mayors of France, observed the situation of local shops as a former florist.
Mayor of Voivres in the Vosges (330 inhabitants), he understands the anguish of local traders and even foresees catastrophes in the neighboring spa resort of La Vôge-les-Bains where the caterer of the place as the clothing store could well put the key under the door before the end of confinement.
For the local elected official, it is not only the survival of small businesses that is at stake but also its ability to recover once the crisis has passed.
"
For many, the situation was already difficult before the Covid, but in such a depressed context, the slightest difficulty ends you
," he warns.
On Tuesday, the AMRF office is due to meet to find a way to sensitize the executive to the misunderstanding of traders.
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The climate was more or less the same on Monday during the steering committee of the Mayors of France during which the decision was taken to cancel the association's annual congress.
Of the 150 participants, around forty elected officials expressed their concerns and questions regarding the health, economic and financial crises they are facing.
Many did not appreciate the inflexibility of Jean Castex on the closures of shops, like the words of Minister Bruno Le Maire, when he judged “
irresponsible
”, the mayors who signed orders authorizing openings.
“
We are dealing with a form of government deafness.
Mayors have a sense of responsibility and don't want to add fuel to the fire, but they feel a lack of confidence.
And there was an outcry against the words of the Minister of the Economy,
”says André Laignel.
For the vice-president of the AMF, the government "
did not understand
" the need for joint work to manage the problem of local shops.
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In Jacqueline Gourault's office, we defend ourselves against betting on consultation with local elected officials during this crisis.
"
From Friday and throughout the weekend,
" we explain, the Minister of Communities exchanged with representatives of the various associations of elected officials.
Gourault supports the firm position displayed by Castex, recalling that the government's course is set by an absolute health emergency consisting in limiting as much as possible to “
save lives
”.
An opening of small businesses would therefore be contrary to the objective set, it is argued.
Request for
substantial aid
Monday, it was hard to imagine how the government could reverse its decision and accept certain solutions considered by local elected officials.
Some are calling for the establishment of specific rules defined according to the territories and municipalities, such as the “
right to differentiation
” expected by the AMF and ARMF.
To address concerns, the government plans to make free digitalization tools available to municipalities to support local commerce, but the timing of this measure was unclear on Monday.
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Moreover, the question of the calendar is a crucial subject for traders, because according to some elected officials, if nothing is done quickly, "
many will not recover
".
On behalf of the rural mayors, Fournier invites the government to work on "substantial
aid
" to cover operating losses, taking into account "
rents, stocks and unsold
".
Tuesday in the Assembly, many parliamentarians will put these burning issues on the government table, in the name of "
justice and equity
", maintains Damien Abad.
The president of the LR group warns: "
Unjust confinement will inevitably be a failed confinement.
We cannot explain to the French that we are less contaminated in a convenience store than in a supermarket.
It is necessary to reconcile the control of flows and commercial equity.
What is irresponsible is to antagonize things with unfair rules and let traders go out with their mouths open
. "
