The objective of this envelope is to support a project up to 80,000 euros for a physical trade and 20,000 euros for an itinerant trade. Food businesses are targeted as a priority.
A global envelope of 12 million euros for the year 2023. The government announced, Wednesday, February 22, a plan to help set up businesses in villages that do not have them. This plan must make it possible to support a project up to 80,000 euros for a physical trade and 20,000 euros for an itinerant trade, in particular the acquisition of the professional tour vehicle, “within a limit of 50% of investment expenditure”.
“The State will provide support for the installation in rural areas of sedentary multi-service shops as well as itinerant shops to serve several rural municipalities”, write the Ministers Delegate for Trade, Olivia Grégoire, and for Local Authorities and Rurality, Dominique Faure, in a press release. The stated objective is “to quickly provide the inhabitants of 1,000 rural municipalities with a commercial offer”, says Olivia Grégoire.
A registration desk open from March 1
In detail, the acquisition of premises and its refurbishment “may be covered up to 50% up to a limit of 50,000 euros”I’“layout of the premises and the acquisition of professional equipment” may be covered up to 20,000 euros, or even 25,000 euros “if the project is of particular interest in terms of sustainable development, or innovative in its economic model”. are cited as examples “short circuits, integration of disadvantaged people, involvement of local associations, experimentation with a shared collection point for digital orders”.
This program “is aimed at project promoters who may be public or private, it being specified that private promoters must necessarily have the support of the municipality in which they are located”, specifies the government, according to which the registration desk, with the prefectures, will open on March 1. The prefectures must collect the files at the level of their department, in a logic of “balanced geographical distribution” and make a first selection before bringing it up to the level of the ministries, specified the cabinet of Olivia Grégoire. Rather, it is food businesses that are targeted.
“I have some reservations”, reacted the president of the Association of rural mayors of France Thursday on franceinfo. Michel Fournier believes that “if there are no businesses in certain places, it is because it would be difficult to make a living from them. So an attractive measure like this must not cause people to say to themselves ‘why pas’ and finally quit after a very short time.”