“There will probably be announcements of site closures in the coming weeks and months”declared Mr. Ferracci at the microphone of France Inter on Saturday, estimating that the social balance sheet “will be counted in thousands of jobs”and by advocating a European response, particularly to support the automotive sector.
The minister, who went this week to Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) to the site of one of the two Michelin factories promised to close and was booed by the employees, criticized the way in which the announcement was made by the group.
“The employees are upset, angry, we can understand it because the way in which the announcement was made to the employees was not a dignified manner”declared Mr. Ferracci during the program “We can’t stop the Eco”. “The employees were informed very late, Michelin management did not come to make the announcement to them directly, eye to eye, and that, I think, is regrettable”added the minister.
The French tire giant announced to employees on November 5 the closure before 2026 of its sites in Cholet and Vannes (Morbihan), which have a total of 1,254 employees.
Beyond that, he described “very constructive” contacts with local elected officials and union organizations in the group. “Michelin’s commitment is that no one is left without a solution,” he recalled.
For the automobile sector in difficulty, for which he announced an emergency plan, Mr. Ferracci praised a “approach to support the European automobile industry”.
“The value chains are completely integrated. You have suppliers in Germany for manufacturers who are in France, and you have suppliers who are in France for manufacturers who are in Germany. Commercial protection with regard to vehicles Chinese must be conceived at the European level”he said.
Among the measures mentioned, he points out “an ecological bonus on a European scale”and “common European loan” to finance “support mechanisms” to the sector. “From the first half of 2025, the European Commission said that it was going to prioritize a clean industrial act, that is to say European legislation on clean industry in which we will be able to implement a certain number of measures”.
