Those close to Michelin management discussed its allocation of the research tax credit and said they were “ready to respond to all requests” regarding the use of the CICE.
Michelin refuses to let a potential controversy swell. In the afternoon, Michel Barnier said 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 have given them given”. During a briefing, those close to the company's management communicated some figures on the aid received by the group, starting with the famous research tax credit which amounts to 55 million euros for Michelin. “This credit made it possible to repatriate research and development activities from Japan and the United States to France, making the cost of a researcher in France competitive with Germany and other countries.”
Michelin's entourage specifies that the company invests 1.2 billion euros each year in innovation spending and that it shares nine laboratories with the CNRS. On the subject of the tax credit for competitiveness and employment, he does not give precise figures but indicates that “the CICE trickles down everywhere at Michelin”.
“We must be held accountable and we are ready to respond to all requests.”
“I am not proud (…) of a policy that would destroy jobs, ever,” declared the Prime Minister before the National Assembly, questioned by the president of the communist group André Chassaigne during the questions session at the government. “I am concerned to know what we did in these groups with the public money that we gave them. I want to know. And so we are going to ask questions and we will see if this money was well spent. or misused to learn lessons,” he explained.
Start of discussions with local authorities
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 we have we have to support each employee individually and support these territories in the possibility of reconversion”. On this subject, Michelin's entourage confirms that “discussions are starting with local authorities to find a way to revitalize the sites.”
“Michelin is committed to supporting each employee to find a stable professional future and to revitalizing closed sites, by recreating at least as many jobs as it has eliminated.”
Timothée Talbi and Gaëtane Meslin with AFP
