Vaucluse Hebdo: How do you intend to embody your role as president of Medef Vaucluse ?
Roland Paul : Even if I was an activist within Medef for 10 years ago, I didn't think one day I would be the departmental president. I have really discovered the role for a few weeks and I organize my schedules as president of Medef and president of GSE accordingly.
The most important thing for me, in this new commitment, is to work to support the economic development of Vaucluse and logically its businesses. I intend to ensure that the economic players and decision-makers of the department are aligned and unite around this common objective.
I say this based on the experience acquired within GSE in recent years. Looking at all the projects we have worked on, I see that real estate projects are taking place more smoothly in certain areas than in others. For example, those where the Region, the Department, local administrations and state services work together.
What types of actions do you plan to take within Medef Vaucluse? ?
With the Medef Vaucluse office and its members, we have started to set up working commissions on several important themes for the region.
I am of course thinking of artificial intelligence which is a real subject. Every business leader looks at this and says, “ How do I get started ?“. The other subject that is important to us is that of the ecological transition. Taking climate change into account is essential, in particular for Vaucluse economic players.
Let us not forget that among the economic pillars of our department, we find viticulture, agriculture and sectors such as naturalness which depend on our terroir. We cannot remain insensitive to these questions. I think we must bring up this subject of environmental transition.
We must also be interested in the question of recruitment and the attractiveness of our department.
How will these commissions work and when do you plan to launch them? ?
The commissions will be linked to those organized by Medef at the national level where the presidents will also be able to sit on them. The objective is to bring ideas up and down, I think this back and forth is important. Alone, it is very difficult to exist in anything.
We want to move quickly and put these commissions in place at the start of the year. We are working on it with the office.
How to bring together Vaucluse entrepreneurs ?
The most important thing is to meet, to discuss the issues of the territory and our businesses. To also defend the interests of entrepreneurs.
How do you plan to work with private or public decision-makers? ?
There are already some great initiatives launched. I am thinking of those put in place by Vaucluse Provence Attrabilité (VPA), the Departmental Council or the CCI of Vaucluse. I find that we all benefit from working together and being aligned.
Medef Vaucluse must be at the heart of this economic ecosystem. I intend to strengthen our ties with them and in particular with the CCI of Vaucluse which wants things to move in the right direction. We have to race together. I have no doubt about that.
The CCI of Vaucluse has chosen to focus on training. How do you want to work with her on this? ?
It would be inconsistent to think about the training needs of our companies on our own, without discussing them with the CCI of Vaucluse. It has equipped itself with suitable bodies to offer training. On this point too, it is in our interest to work together, of course.
What is the weight of Medef Vaucluse in terms of members? ?
We restarted a story a little while ago. With the members, we are campaigning to add new ones.
I have met many entrepreneurs since my election: U Proximité France, KP1, Delta Plus, Blachère Illumination, Florajet, Grand Delta Habitat, Eurenco, Aroma-Zone, Kookabarra, Rhonéa, GRDF, Suez, Enedis…
We are looking to join large companies as well as smaller ones. We bring together entrepreneurs who share the desire to develop together, saying “ What can we do for Vaucluse ?»
There are also around fifteen professional federations. I am thinking of the construction industry, Fnaim, the CRCC, the Avignon Bar, Mobilians, the Departmental Banking Committee, etc.
How representative is Medef Vaucluse in joint organizations? ?
Medef Vaucluse is the professional union with the most mandates in the department. If we take the industrial tribunal, for example, we have 34 representatives in Orange and Avignon. One of the challenges of 2025 is to fight the campaign for new representatives.
What place will Medef Vaucluse have within Medef Sud? ?
Responses to the needs of Vaucluse will be addressed by working with Medef Sud. We will rely on the tools and skills of Medef Sud.
The economic situation remains uncertain and delicate for businesses. How can you support them? ?
Beyond the mandates and representativeness of employers' organizations like Medef, there is the relationship that we can develop with the Avignon commercial court which is important. We communicate with consular judges to put measures in place.
I also plan to work with different associations that support entrepreneurs in difficulty like 60 000 Rebounds. Business leaders who face cash flow problems often find themselves too alone. We will also work with banks and the Order of Chartered Accountants.
Are there any points that seem important to you to strengthen the economic attractiveness of Vaucluse? ?
Because of my job, I will put land at the top of the pile, which is a real subject. When we go to a department or region to work on a file, within GSE, we quickly sense the projects that will develop quickly when everyone is aligned and says with one voice: “ How do we help this file come out quickly? » and those who will take time…
We have great tools in Vaucluse, I think back to VPA. I hope that Medef will work on these subjects as a team, particularly with local communities. We must ensure that we can accommodate projects from outside the department, but also allow local businesses that want to develop to find free land or offices.
Access to economic land remains one of the black spots in Vaucluse, there is not enough of it. There is real work to be done.
How do you see things in terms of land? ?
Exchanges should be strengthened with intermunicipalities to identify this land and transform it. I am thinking, in particular, of industrial wastelands. There is room.
That being said, I'm not saying it's simple… I can say that I'm proud to be in a country that takes biodiversity management very seriously because it's important. However, among the species, there is also humans. And humans must be able to get by. So we must manage to address these questions…
This reflection must be developed and enriched with exchanges between businesses and communities to develop the territory while protecting biodiversity.
I bring the idea of bringing together the communities of municipalities so that we align with each other in order to create a land bank which allows local businesses to develop there and those from outside to come there. install. This is like what we did at Natura Parc.
We often talk about Greater Avignon in terms of land for economic activity. What is your view of the North of the department? ?
Of course Nord-Vaucluse interests me. I am originally from the North of Ventoux. In this part of the department, there is a lack of economic development operations. There are still things to do.
We will also make contact with the communities. I think we need to bring in expertise. I have clearly seen the difficulty that certain municipalities encounter in developing an activity in terms of economic development. This requires a huge amount of expertise, resources and time…
In terms of attractiveness, there is also the question of recruitment. What can Medef Vaucluse do? ?
We worked on this very issue with VPA. How to become attractive to young people looking for activities, outings… who do not necessarily find an offer adapted to their expectations, especially in the evening in Avignon in particular. It's a reality.
On the other hand, for older candidates and couples with children, Vaucluse offers many advantages, particularly access to nature and quality of life. In Vaucluse, there is still unemployment which is unfortunately higher than the French average. We must therefore attract businesses, activities and focus on training so that these people looking for work meet the expectations of businesses.
What are the sectors that are hiring and those with a future in Vaucluse?
Agriculture, hotels, restaurants and health too are sectors that are recruiting. As for the sectors of the future, I am thinking of naturalness and the agri-food industry. Transform what our territory produces!
We have focused a lot on tourism in recent years, the activity is important in Vaucluse, but I am thinking of viticulture and agriculture. Being able to transform and promote local production seems to me to make a lot of sense, both sustainable and favorable to economic development. We build on the foundations of our department. Very solid foundations in agriculture.
What message do you want to send to the new government? ?
Businesses need stability. Due to the lack of long-term political vision, many entrepreneurs are delaying their investments…
Patrick Martin, the president of the national Medef, wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister. I hope he has taken note of it.
