A first envelope of €12 million is planned for 2023/24.
In launching the scheme Olivia Grégoire, Minister for Small Businesses and Tourism stated the decline in commercial activities "leads to difficulties in accessing everyday services in sparsely populated areas."
She explained that “The median journey time by car to get to the nearest commercial hub is 10 minutes in sparsely populated areas and 2.6 minutes in dense areas." .
According to the national statistics agency, Insee, more than 21,000 municipalities have no shops, or 62% of French municipalities, against 25% in 1980.
Insee state that: "The situation is critical for these areas that are losing momentum. Concretely, this commercial desertification accentuates the fragilities of rural communes, increases their loss of attractiveness and legitimately increases the feeling of degradation of the living environment."
To compensate for this shortfall, the scheme proposes financial assistance for "the installation of businesses in municipalities that do not have them, or whose established businesses no longer meet the basic needs of the population."
The Minister stated: "The State will provide support for the installation in rural areas of multi-service sedentary shops as well as itinerant shops to serve several rural municipalities, with investment aid of up to €80,000 per project."
To be eligible for aid, applicants, who can be from the public or private sector, need to contact their local prefecture. Applications are open from 1st March. Applicants from the private sector must have the support of the local council.
The latter will have to "demonstrate their ability to carry out the project, with good understanding of the existing local fabric and the needs of the population."
To be eligible, an itinerant business will need to provide a "weekly tour" with "a passage of at least 4 days per week in rural communes without shops".
The guidance also states that the project must not exceed a period of 36 months and that it must not lead to new land development. The "aid paid under the scheme can thus only cover investment expenses or services to accompany the installation, excluding operating expenses and the constitution of stocks of consumables and goods."
For sedentary businesses, 50% grant support within a limit of €50,000 may be used for the acquisition of premises and restoration work. For the fitting out of premises and the acquisition of professional equipment, the assistance is also 50% within a limit of €20,000.
An increase to €25,000 is available if the project is of particular interest in terms of sustainable development, or of an innovative character in its economic model.
For itinerant businesses, the contribution is set at 50% of investment expenditure (mainly the acquisition of a professional touring vehicle), up to a limit of €20,000.
In total, ten to fifteen projects per region will be supported as part of this programme.
More details can be found at Cahier de Charges.
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