2023-05-11 06:29:18
It was one of the priority projects, barely the first confinement lifted: regaining our industrial sovereignty. On television, Emmanuel Macron announced it, solemn, his gaze fixed on that of the French. One billion euros has been released by Bercy to support companies ready to take the plunge and return to France. In the viewfinder of the State, as a priority, sectors deemed strategic such as health, electronics, agri-food, 5G and raw materials useful to industry.
In 2021, the burst of relocations got under way, promising. 77 cases have been identified, with great communication blows. Equipment from Le Coq sportif, Smoby toys, stuffed animals from Doudou et Compagnie, Herbelin watches, but also more strategic companies such as Aguettant, which manufactures injectable drugs in pre-filled syringes.
The competitiveness gap is widening with the United States
And after ? The soufflé fell, all of a sudden. In 2022, while experts were hoping for up to a hundred returns to France, the EY barometer only counts… 44. “There was a break between spring and summer, concedes Marc Lhermitte , head of competitiveness and attractiveness activities at EY. Despite the great efforts of the Minister of Industry at the time, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who estimated the number of return projects at several hundred, there were very few. Half of them were brought to a halt by the energy crisis. “Some have put on stand-by or reduced sail, but it is clear that energy costs have put a brake on it,” he says.
“When we see the price of the kilowatt/hour multiplied by eight in France, adds this specialist, this widens the gap with the United States and reduces to nothing any attempt at an immediate return. Not to mention inflation, which drove up prices and slowed customer consumption. For a boss, the alignment of the planets is not good. »
But will it ever happen? “I believe it, continues Marc Lhermitte. The shutdown is temporary but the recovery may take place at the end of 2023, rather in 2024. What is certain is that France has no funding problems to help companies relocate. But the bosses need to see how the second winter will go in terms of energy costs. »
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