Automobile, aeronautics, tourism … Among the sectors most affected by the crisis, only local shops had not yet had their rescue plan. Bercy should unveil next week a plan to help the self-employed which will complement the tools deployed since the start of the health emergency (solidarity fund, deferral of charges, guaranteed loans). The calendar owes nothing to chance: the National Assembly examines from Monday the third amending finance bill, which could integrate this new burst of measures.
Small businesses have already benefited from a cancellation of their charges for the duration of the confinement, if they were affected by an administrative closure. The government considers that it is necessary to go further, otherwise craftsmen and traders risk being overtaken by the wave of bankruptcies.
Solidarity fund extended
In the immediate future, Bercy will extend the solidarity fund until June for all self-employed people whose turnover is less than 1 million euros and who employ less than 10 employees. Note that for sectors whose closure has been prolonged (hotels and restaurants, sport, tourism), the solidarity fund is well maintained until the end of the year, as previously announced.
To facilitate access to the second floor of the fund, consisting of aid of up to 10,000 euros to cover rents, the State would be ready to lift the condition that it had not had access to the loans guaranteed by the state, a rule deemed too restrictive for small businesses. Finally, the government is ready to give a boost to Madelin pension funds by authorizing an exceptional release. He will give his approval to an amendment voted in committee at the Assembly which raises the threshold to 8,000 euros.
The State acquiring commercial premises
Other measures will be announced next week, without being included in the draft amending budget. They will need to be reworked in preparation for the recovery plan planned for the fall. In addition to budgetary appropriations to accelerate the digitization of VSEs, the government plans to create land to acquire commercial premises which could be made available at attractive rents, in order to avoid downtown areas from collapsing in the face of acceleration of online commerce.
In all, some 10,000 repurchase operations could take place through a hundred real estate companies in each department. Caisse des Dépôts is said to be on the move, but the government wants to involve local communities. Hence the need to conduct discussions with them, before releasing the credits.
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