“The State and the public authorities are asserting themselves as insurers of last resort for the remuneration of shareholders”

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Tribune. With 155 billion euros released to support businesses between March and December 2020, France is, according to data published by the European Commission, European champion in this area, far ahead of Italy (108 billion) and France. Germany (104 billion). There is no doubt that it was necessary to support the private sector from the moment the public authorities decided to confine the country and stop certain economic activities.

Unfortunately, more than a year after the start of the pandemic, and while public aid to private companies represents almost five times the net income from corporate taxes, neither parliamentarians nor citizens know precisely who has benefited, and for what amount, from the 32 billion euros in deferrals and exemptions from tax charges and social contributions, 27 billion euros from short-time working or even tens of billions of euros from sectoral emergency plans and stimulus.

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These data exist, however, but neither Bercy nor the Ministry of Labor wish to make them public. Business confidentiality and fiscal secrecy are brandished to prevent any precise and quantified monitoring of beneficiaries and the aid they have obtained. If the details of the support given to our hairdresser is undoubtedly not required, not knowing precisely how much Atos, Bouygues, Vinci have received short-time working arrangements when they are suspected of having abused them, is not acceptable.

Lack of democratic transparency and control

Nothing justifies such a lack of democratic transparency and control. The first requirement, the most basic in a democracy, is to call on the executive and the parliamentary majority to publish data on recipients of public aid. At least for some 250 large companies and 5,700 mid-size companies (more than 250 employees and / or more than 50 million euros in turnover).

This requirement for transparency is all the more essential as the Observatory of Multinationals (https://multinationales.org/) has shown, by cross-checking the available plot information, that 100% of the CAC 40 groups have benefited and still benefit from public aid linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, although some have tried to claim the opposite.

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Thus, at least 27 CAC 40 groups have resorted to partial unemployment. Intended to avoid layoffs and keep trained employees within the company, the partial unemployment scheme is deviated when more than 80% of these multinationals who claimed not to be able to assume the burden of the remuneration of their employees have, in the same time, considered to have sufficient cash flow to pay dividends in 2020 and / or 2021.

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