SMEs refuse any obligation to match the measures of the recovery plan

The Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME) said it was totally opposed on Friday to a proposal by the majority deputies to set environmental compensation for the measures of the recovery plan, while NGOs, on the contrary, deem it insufficient.

"The CPME is resolutely opposed to so-called" counterparts "while very many companies are currently fighting for their survival," the employers' organization warned in a statement.

In the context of the strengthening of health restrictions, "companies, and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, need more than ever to be supported and accompanied" and "it is imperative" that they "seize the opportunities offered" by the plan stimulus, she explains.

"Subjecting companies committing themselves in this direction to new constraints and obligations would therefore be an aberration," she assures us.

An amendment to the draft Budget for 2021, tabled by the majority deputies and which will be discussed next week, provides in particular that companies with more than 50 employees will be required to provide a report on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Conversely, several environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace, Oxfam, WWF and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, have qualified as "sham of counterparts" this proposal which is "not up to the challenges".

This amendment "will have no impact on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions", they judge, because it "does not provide for any obligation for companies to reduce their impact [on the] climate".

In addition, they point out that large companies are already obliged to publish an annual report on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Pressed not to support companies via the recovery plan without imposing compensation on them, the government said it was ready to ask them for commitments in environmental matters, governance, social dialogue or even equality between men and women. women.

The deputies' proposal thus provides that companies will have to publish their score on the Professional Equality Index and plan to improve if they do not meet a target that will be set by the government.

In addition, "the social and economic committee must be consulted on the amount, nature and use of aid obtained by the company under the recovery plan", according to the presentation of the amendment.

The government will support this amendment, Bercy told AFP.