The boss of bosses, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, estimates the damage to businesses caused by the riots at one billion euros, in an interview with Le Parisien published on Monday evening. “It is too early to give a precise figure but we are at more than a billion euros, not counting the damage to tourism. The videos of the riots, which circulated around the world, degrade the image of France”, declared the leader of Medef, the most influential employers’ union. However, “the event is not significant enough to have a long-term economic impact”, nuance this Tuesday the boss of bosses. At the microphone of FranceInter, he also believes that “the negative consequences on international tourism should not last until the Rugby World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”.
According to his figures, more than 200 shops were completely looted, 300 bank branches destroyed, 250 tobacconists affected, “with operating methods of absolute violence. Everything was stolen, even cash registers, before setting fire to destroy”. On the subject of compensation which concerns many companies and in particular the smallest, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux assures that “the insurers are mobilized to go as quickly as possible, I am quite confident that the businesses concerned will be compensated”.
Dismissing a return to “whatever the cost”, these expensive support measures for businesses taken in the face of the health and energy crises, the boss of bosses believes that it is necessary to consider “one-off advances, because some will not be able to exercise their activity for some time. On Saturday, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire urged insurers to extend reporting deadlines, to quickly compensate victims and to reduce deductibles.
Night riots broke out in France on June 27, the day of the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager who was shot at point-blank range by a police motorcyclist, during a traffic check in Nanterre (west of Paris ). Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux will be replaced by a new Medef leader to be elected on July 6, either Patrick Martin or Dominique Carlac’h, the two remaining candidates.
