French businesses begin rebuilding after riot ‘nightmare’

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The French government has begun work to help repair damaged businesses as unrest subsided after days of protests and riots after 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk was shot dead by police last week.

At least 2,000 businesses have been heavily damaged by the rioters, according to an initial estimate by the French employers’ association Madef. However, the worst of the turmoil appears to have subsided after several nights of heavy law enforcement deployment across the country.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, “The peak we experienced in the first evening has passed.” He said restoring order was now the “top priority”.

While visiting damaged businesses in the city of Arpajon, about an hour south of Paris, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday that insurance providers had been able to expedite claims and filing deadlines and cut deductions for affected businesses. Committed to providing flexibility.

He said the government would also consider revising or canceling taxes and social contributions in exceptional cases.

“I share the sense of disgust of all the businessmen I have met, and also their feelings of deep sadness . . . demoralization,” Le Maire said. If this life’s work has turned to ashes, then the state should be on your side.”

Despite the damage to individual businesses, the impact of the unrest on the wider economy will be “negligible”, according to a finance ministry source.

Arrests in France have halved overnight as protests subside. A total of 3,486 people have been arrested since the night of June 27, when protesters took to the streets to express their outrage after footage of Merzouk being gunned down by traffic police went viral.

Meddef estimated the cost of looting and other damage to businesses to be at least €1 billion, with the amount expected to rise as more claims are made. Over 200 shops were looted, 300 bank branches were destroyed and 250 tobacco shops were affected. At least 25 supermarkets have been burned, 15 of which belonged to the German grocery chain Aldi alone.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin pledged that the response to the unrest would be “resolute”, with a police deployment of 45,000 per night maintained throughout the night. No officers were injured Monday night for the first time since the violence began.

However, for business owners, rebuilding is a daunting prospect. “We just got over Covid, we got our heads above water and now we’re down again,” said Emmanuel Duporte, who runs the Citroën garage in Arpajon, where more than 30 vehicles were damaged They went.

“We thought we were in a bad dream. , , We can’t understand it. Why destroy like this, what is the point? It’s a life’s work, it’s painful.”

Additional reporting by Leila Aboud in Paris