A socialist bill, adopted this Thursday, February 29 by the National Assembly, extends regulated electricity prices to all VSEs – businesses less than 10 employees -, from 1er February 2025. This boost will not be enough to compensate for the increasing number of failures and bankruptcies, according to Jean-Guilhem Darré, general delegate of the Union of Independent Small Businesses. According to him, more measures are needed to relieve the cash flow surrounded by debts.
franceinfo: Having access to the same rate as individuals, for craftsmen, bakers, businesses with less than ten employees, is this something you were asking for ?
Jean-Guilhem Darré: This is something that we actually asked for when it was considered in 2022. For a very simple reason: the regulated rate was very significantly lower than the market rate. Today, unfortunately, that is no longer of interest since, conversely, the regulated rate is higher than the market rate.
So it’s coming too late?
Indeed, it’s coming a little late, but we don’t know the future. By the 1ster February 2025, it is possible that we will again have problems with energy costs and that VSEs could; for once, benefit from a regulated rate.
A few days ago, the executive announced cash flow support measures for farmers in difficulty. Do you yourself demand the same measure for VSEs?
We note, within the framework of our surveys and within the framework of calls from our 25,000 members, that many are in cash flow difficulties.
“These cash flow difficulties are simply linked to a difficult economic context. And the PGEs, which at the beginning maintained activity, have now become burdens.”
Jean-Guilhem Darréat franceinfo
There is a drop in consumption. They must assume a certain number of charges linked to the increase in costs, the increase in electricity for example, the increase in salaries… Well, everything that ultimately constitutes the life of the company. They must also, and this is an extremely important point, repay their PGE, loans guaranteed by the State. These loans, at first, allowed them to support a situation, but today they have actually become a burden. As part of their balance sheet, this makes it very difficult for them to continue to grow.
The reimbursement of the PGE was still spread out.
The spread which is possible today is conditional, subject to the authorization of the bank, which is subject to the authorization of the credit mediator, which induces for the business manager the obligation to restructure the whole of its credits.
The business leaders of VSEs are therefore not asking for the rescheduling of this debt…
No, they are not embarking on this procedure which they consider both very complex and likely to prevent them from continuing their activity.
The owners of very small businesses can therefore experience the same difficulties as farmers. As farmers have benefited from measures, there is no reason why they should be the only ones.
We see that one of the problems facing farmers is their level of income.
“We carried out a survey two months ago, where we saw that almost half of independent professionals, craftsmen, traders and small business managers earn less than a minimum wage per month.”
Jean-Guilhem Darréat franceinfo
This request that you are making here on franceinfo, have you taken it to Bercy? Did you get a response?
We have been warning at Bercy for several months now, based on what we are seeing on the ground. The answer, unfortunately, there is none at this stage. We actually see that from the moment there is a certain mobilization, ultimately quite aggressive, as for farmers, there are results. We are not there today, even if a certain number of our members would indeed like to mobilize in the streets in relation to this element.
So real estate is bad. The boss of Bouygues told us yesterday that residential reservations were down more than 30% year-on-year. The leading French promoter, Nexity, announces upcoming job cuts. What about the situation of small bosses in the sector that you represent?
If we look at the figures for 2023, in the context of what we call secondary work, therefore electricians, masons, we see that these professionals are among the first victims of cessation of activity.
Do you have business failures and bankruptcies in this sector today?
We have failures in many sectors, I would say almost in all sectors. Indeed, the most important thing is the building and what we call the person’s equipment: clothes, shoes, accessories. But hey, we also have failures in the food trade. Today, the situation on the ground is difficult for many small businesses.
But isn’t this a fair return, the consequence of the end of “whatever it takes”? The French economy has lived with a safety net for many years. There are companies that have been kept on life support and are now going bankrupt.
This is an argument that is often used by the executive. For two years, the failure curve has unfortunately increased. Initially, they explained to us that it was because the aid was ending and therefore there was a catch-up. But now it is clear that we are still in a particular economic situation. As Bruno Le Maire indicated, next year, growth will no longer be 1.4% but 1%. And that’s still above what many economists say.
“There is a drop in consumption which alone justifies the economic difficulties and the cessation of activity figures.”
Jean-Guilhem Darréat franceinfo
So you are asking for additional aid from the State, in particular with a staggered reimbursement of PGE?
We are perfectly aware of the state’s budgetary difficulties, so we are not asking for additional money. On the other hand, we are asking for the possibility of recovering cash flow through relatively simple measures, such as spreading the payment of the EMP under conditions defined by banks and business leaders.
And the rescheduling of debts, as is the case for farmers?
Indeed and further spreads concerning the URSSAF, things which allow the treasury to get by.
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