This Tuesday, November 5, Michel Barnier said he wanted to “know” what the Auchan and Michelin groups, which plan to close several sites, with thousands of jobs threatened, have done “with the public money that we gave them “.
The Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday November 5, 2024 that he wanted to “know” what the Auchan and Michelin groups, which plan to close several sites with thousands of jobs at risk, have done “with the public money that we gave them.”
“I am not proud (…) of a policy that would destroy jobs, ever,” added the head of government before the National Assembly, saying he was “concerned about knowing what we did in these groups of the public money that was given to them.
“I want to know. And so we are going to ask questions and we will see if this money was used well or badly to learn lessons,” he explained.
A dark day for employment in France
Michel Barnier said he “disagreed” with the decision of the Michelin automobile group to close its sites in Vannes (Morbihan) and Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), where a total of 1,254 employees work. He indicated that he met his CEO, Florent Menegaux, “a few days ago”.
The distributor Auchan, for its part, plans to cut 2,389 jobs, notably through the closure of around ten stores, in an attempt to revive itself after several complicated exercises.
The Prime Minister hoped that these groups could “work with the local fabric, local elected officials (…), unions, local employers, chambers of commerce” to “put (…) together all the tools including we have the means to support each employee individually and support these territories in the possibility of retraining.”
“We must create or recreate industrial employment, as well as maintain agricultural employment in our country”, insisted the head of government, referring to the creation in early 2025 of an “industrial savings book”, as well as “European responses” with “less naivety” in the face of “not always fair” foreign competition.
“The total failure of Emmanuel Macron”
In a press release, communist leader Fabien Roussel called “for a moratorium on layoff plans.” “Our industry is stuck in a structural crisis, particularly on the energy issue,” continued the number one of the PCF, estimating that “the government can immediately lower the price of electricity by 30% for our businesses, as well as for households. “, by “exiting the European energy market, but also to really give ourselves the means to develop our nuclear production”.
The argument was shared by Marine Le Pen, who denounced “the total failure of Emmanuel Macron to stop the deindustrialization of our country”. She also called for a reduction in “production taxes” and an exit from “European rules for setting energy prices” by evoking “the competitive advantage that our nuclear production should give us”.
