the order not to pay comes directly from former minister Gérald Darmanin, according to Bruno Retailleau’s entourage

Rents will be paid, even if late, assures the ministry.

It was when taking up his new role as Minister of the Interior that Bruno Retailleau claims to have discovered that the gendarmerie was no longer paying its rents in several municipalities in France between the months of September and November, franceinfo learned on Tuesday October 8 from the the minister’s entourage. Due to an important “hole” in the coffers, the gendarmerie is in fact no longer able to pay the rent for its premises and its official accommodation in several municipalities in France, reveals France Bleu. According to information from franceinfo, the order not to pay comes directly from former Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.

At the beginning of September, the latter asked the gendarmerie to postpone the payment of rents for September, October and November while waiting for the new credits which should arrive at the end of the year, franceinfo learned from the entourage of the current minister of the Interior. A decision which, according to this source, has three reasons.

The first reason is an initial shortage of credits of around 200 million euros, the second reason is that the Ministry of the Interior did not anticipate the expenses incurred due to the conflict in New Caledonia, where many gendarmes have been sent in recent months. Finally, third reason, according to Bruno Retailleau’s entourage, the payment of expenses linked to securing the Olympic and Paralympic Games was not assessed at their fair level.

This is why the Ministry of the Interior had to make choices, prioritizing for the coming weeks expenses linked to operational activity, such as fuel expenses, once again explains Bruno Retailleau’s entourage. The Ministry of the Interior assures that this suspension of payment is indeed temporary and that the rents will be paid, even with a delay, because new credits must be opened in December, of the order of 320 million euros.

Those close to the Minister of the Interior indicate that to avoid putting “small” landlords, individuals and smaller communities in difficulty, the payment delay does not concern them. A payment gap which does not concern Overseas either. The Ministry of the Interior has asked regional gendarmerie commanders and zone prefects to react immediately as soon as a payment problem arises for a fragile lessor.

Finally, the Ministry of the Interior says it understands “legitimate emotion” what this situation can cause for the municipalities which are concerned. The minister assures that he is aware of the image “it’s not very advantageous for a State that failed to plan. Everything should be back to normal at the beginning of next year”assures Bruno Retailleau according to those around him.

The fact remains that this situation is not new, it is even a structural situation for the gendarmerie, according to reports from the Court of Auditors. According to the institution, each year there are tens of millions of euros in rent that are not paid on time by the gendarmerie. This represented at the national level 170 million euros in 2023, 220 million euros in 2021, and even more than a billion euros in 2020, even if the year was special because of Covid.