Geoffrey Branger
modified to
09:37, January 22, 2023
They are not demonstrating against the pension reform but because their survival depends on it. Bakers and craftsmen will be in the streets on Monday to shout their anger at the explosion in energy prices, despite the aid announced by the government. The problem is that they are not all protected by this tariff shield.
“Keep Your Helpers”
For some, energy bills have increased three to four times, in some cases even more. This is the case of Mickaël Michelot, who is a baker in Orliénas, near Lyon. He will be this Monday in front of the Ministry of the Economy. “The last announcement they made was to freeze the price of energy, on average at 280 euros per megawatt hour. This is what is already applied in my new contract, but it still multiplies by three compared to my old contract”, he explains.
“We would never have heard of us if we had been affected by the 15% shield for all companies, there would have been a small increase on the stick but we would not feel it. We do not want aid : keep your aid, we want to pay the right price”, he insists.
Without being able to pay this fair price, many State aid exists, but it is mostly targeted and difficult to obtain. In Normandy, the region has set up several specific aids, precisely for these companies which are hit hard.
The Normandy region is implementing specific aid
It offers devices complementary to those of the State, zero-rate loans to be repaid two years later over five years, or even equity loans where for seven years, only the interest is repaid before repaying the capital.
“The idea is that we do tailor-made each time we have a company that is experiencing difficulties, in particular with working capital, cash flow, and that we can put in place support”, explains Hervé Morin, the president of the Normandy region. “What is certain is that the state mechanisms are very clearly insufficient and that is why we intervened.” These devices have already proven themselves. Today, many voices are raised for this aid to be generalized.
