"Let's save our businesses before it's too late!"

The signatories of this collective forum are: Agnès Bricard, Honorary President of the Superior Council of the Order of Chartered Accountants;

Guillaume Cairou, President of the Entrepreneurs Club and Foreign Trade Advisor of France;

Thibault Lanxade, former vice-president of MEDEF;

Yves Jego, former minister, founding president of the Origine France Garantie certification;

Francis Palombi, President of the Confederation of French Traders (CDF);

Dominique Restino, president of the Paris CCI.

Common sense!

We, representatives of entrepreneurs and traders in France, ask the government to use common sense and keep its cool.

The second wave of the pandemic that is hitting citizens around the world and overwhelming health systems is incredibly violent.

We are well aware of this.

We cannot thank healthcare professionals enough for their dedication, for their sacrifices.

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But the cure for this pandemic unprecedented in our modern history must not be worse than the disease.

Certainly, the return to confinement was necessary.

It was for the safety of all of us.

Thus, if we had welcomed the flexibility measures of this confinement bis allowing our economy to continue to function, we bitterly regret the sacrifices demanded from the vast majority of traders in France, those who are considered "

" .

However, there are many reasons, the legitimate explanations that should have prompted the executive to take into consideration their desire to continue working and serving our fellow citizens.

Safely.

Responsibly.

With 80,000 businesses, 1 million active workers including 300,000 seasonal workers, the hotel trades and industries are also an essential element of our economy.

Because we are all essential.

Trade and distribution represent 3.5 million women and men engaged, including nearly 2 million in the retail trade and 44,000 points of sale spread over the entire metropolitan and overseas territory.

With 80,000 companies, 1 million active workers including 300,000 seasonal workers, the hotel trades and industries are also an essential element of our economy.

Because before being professionals, we are citizens, responsible fathers and mothers of families, anxious to protect our own and others.

During the summer deconfinement, have we not demonstrated our willingness to respect and adapt to health protocols?

According to health authorities, small businesses and restaurants, among others, have not been places where the virus has spread.

Exemplary we have been.

Copies we would have remained.

There was no reason to doubt ourselves, our ability and our willingness to work conscientiously.

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Because traders are entrepreneurs who have taken risks, who hire, who innovate.

Glorifying entrepreneurship is one thing, protecting it is another it seems.

We regret it.

Because shops, already battered by multiple forms of competition, are essential places to live, especially in our villages.

If they disappear, we run the risk of creating human deserts.

Because by allowing us to open our stores, we are allowing the government to take care of the public purse and direct the savings to the sectors that need it most.

The next generations will be grateful to us for this effort.

Other countries have managed to overcome this pandemic without blocking their economy

Because rebuilding on ruins would be very long and very expensive.

While the unemployment rate is on the rise again, especially among the youngest, that a number of our territories are suffering, that our public finances are in the bright red, that society is worried, blocking an essential link in our economy is risky.

Because other countries have managed to overcome this pandemic without blocking their economy.

We can do it too.

The sooner we get back to the conditions for a normal life, the faster we can erase this sinister crisis from our memory.

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Because, finally, this decision to close some businesses and not others is simply incomprehensible.

In the face of the virus, we are unfortunately all equal.

Masked and respecting health protocols, queuing in a fashion store, a toy store, a bookstore is no more risky than in a supermarket, a pharmacy or a bakery.

It is not the nature of businesses that should decide their future!

Rather than prohibiting, it would be wiser to inform, to do pedagogical work, to rely on the collective intelligence and civility of all.

What more can be said?

While we welcome the government's responsiveness to the economic crisis caused by this pandemic, we are not asking for additional aid or guaranteed loans.

That we are left to work, quite simply.

We don't want to die healed.