“He seems sincere, but what will be done behind it?” A Prime Minister full of good intentions visiting Limoges

While the Valeo and Legrand companies have just announced relocations, the Prime Minister was traveling to Limoges this Friday, November 29, to promote the reindustrialization of the country. Accompanied by the Ministers of Economy, Industry, Labor and Transport, he visited the Texelis site, an example of industrial excellence. Several delegations of employees and farmers were then received.

Coming to defend France's reindustrialization policy, Prime Minister Michel Barnier began his trip to Limoges with a visit to Texelis, the flagship of the arms industry in Limousin. “A company which represents a leading asset for the development of our territory, of Limousin, and for France's place in international competition“, greeted the Prime Minister.

A world leader in the design and manufacture of transmission equipment used to operate armored vehicles, Texelis is a thriving company. Its order books are full, it employs 340 employees on its Limoges site, a model of industrial excellence advocated by the government.

At the same time, other businesses in Limousin are affected by “harsh and unfair international competition” says Michel Barnier. The automobile equipment manufacturer Valeo announced on November 27 the elimination of 83 jobs out of the 225 permanent employees at its Limougeaud site. And the Legrand industrial group, specialist in electrical and digital equipment whose headquarters is in Limoges, plans to relocate part of its production to Hungary. In Limoges, around fifty employees are directly affected.

For Valeo's 83 employees, the die is cast.

Antony Gourserol,

secretary of the CGT Valeo Limoges union

Union representatives from the two companies were received at the Haute-Vienne prefecture by Antoine Armand, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, and Astrid Panoysan-Bouvet, Minister of Labor and Employment. “There has been a lot of talk about aid conditionality. For Valeo Limoges, we are talking about €1.9 million in 2021 from the France Relance plan, €780,000 in research tax credit in 2021, €500,000 in 2022 and €500,000 in 2023. They told us that levers will be put in place, but it will take time, and for us, for the 83 positions targeted, the die is cast” deplores Antony Gourserol, secretary of the CGT Valeo Limoges union after his interview.

For his part, the Prime Minister, who affirmed in his speech at Texelis that “Europe must have no complexes in defending its interests in relation to the aggressiveness of other continents. France has reasons to refuse the future Mercosur trade treaty because it would lead to the destruction of entire sectors of our agriculture “, received representatives of the FNSEA agricultural unions, rural coordination and peasant confederation.

I found it sincere, but I don't know what will happen behind it.

Bertrand Venteau,

president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Haute-Vienne

“He told us that he was committed to continuing what had been promised by Gabriel Attal in terms of simplification. I found him very motivated and without tongue in cheek, but it's just a political statement, I don't know what will be done behind it.”declares Bertrand Venteau, president of the Haute-Vienne Chamber of Agriculture and member of the rural coordination.

Also received by the Prime Minister, Philippe Babaudou, co-spokesperson of the peasant confederation of Haute-Vienne, remembers a visit to Limoges by the same Michel Barnier, then Minister of Agriculture, who had declared aware of the urgency of the situation. “ Since 2008 we have lost 1,500 farms in our department, more than 100,000 sheep and tens of thousands of cows, so I hope that he is really convinced of the urgency of the situation this time, and that the measures worthy to save agriculture will be taken soon“.

During this government visit, farmers and industry employees will have benefited from an attentive ear, but no firm commitment has come to address their concerns.