The critical questioning of the government returns like a leitmotif as soon as a large company announces a social plan: what have you done with state aid? The Prime Minister took it up on Tuesday, November 5, during the government questions session at the National Assembly, a few hours after the announcements of 2,389 layoffs by Auchan and the closure by Michelin of the Cholet (Maine-Maine) factories. et-Loire) and Vannes, which employ 1,254 employees.
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“I am not proud of a policy that would destroy jobs, everlaunched Michel Barnier. I am concerned to know what we did in these groups with the public money that we gave them (…). And so we are going to ask questions and we will see if this money was used well or poorly, to learn lessons. » Saying “disagree” with Michelin's plan, he said he met its CEO, Florent Menegaux, who justifies the decision by“collapse of activity” in the hypercompetitive tire market.
The government is expecting mobilization from the two companies, with local elected officials and unions, to find reconversion solutions. Mr. Menegaux indicated that « cnone [serait] supported individually until he finds a job.” What the tire giant claims to have done in 2019, during the shutdown of the La Roche-sur-Yon site, where almost all of the employees had, according to it, found work. Even if Auchan (Mulliez group) has not made such commitments, it is not a “degrowth project”assured its general director, Guillaume Darrasse.
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With Michelin, Mr. Barnier finds himself in the situation of his distant predecessor, the socialist Lionel Jospin, in 1999. In response to the announcement of 7,500 layoffs in Europe, the head of government warned that« he doesn't [fallait] not expect everything from the State”. He added: “I don’t believe we can now administer the economy. It is not by law, texts, that we regulate the economy. » A conviction that went down very badly within the plural left.
Overall sluggish demand
The effectiveness of the political class is regularly called into question when social plans of this magnitude are implemented, and these concomitant announcements from Auchan and Michelin will revive concerns about a deterioration of the job market in France. . Reindustrialization has stalled for a year and social plans are returning to several sectors. Workforce reductions are also expected in the defense-space branch of Airbus, serious threats weigh on the automobile industry (manufacturers, equipment suppliers and dealers) and several difficult negotiations are taking place in the chemicals-petrochemicals sector (Vencorex, ExxonMobil, etc.). .
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