Vol 17 (2020) - Issue 3

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France: A Country at War against the Coronavirus Pandemic

Synopsis

On 16 March, the French President held a speech to the nation in which he made a call to his fellow citizens for solidarity and responsibility. 'The country is at war,' he said, 'against an invisible, elusive and progressing enemy.' Accordingly, by the end of March, containment measures to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus pandemic had been implemented and renewed. A law, instituting the state of emergency and authorising the Government to take immediate measures by ordinance, had also been enacted. Companies and businesses of all sorts were temporarily shut down, forcing their employees and workers to stay home and/or working remotely, causing the country to review its growth forecasts. Approximately nine million employees have since been furloughed and, as in many other countries, the stock markets fell brutally.
The author briefly presents some of the main measures of the rescue package implemented to support companies and businesses and enable them to survive a crisis of this magnitude.