Interview with Jean-Christophe Repon, president of CAPEB, after his February 15 meeting with the government

Batinfo: What were your expectations before the meeting on February 15?

Jean-Christophe Repon: After numerous unanswered calls to former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and then to Gabriel Attal, we were finally able to obtain a meeting with Christophe Béchu, Minister for Ecological Transition, and Guillaume Kasbarian, the new Minister of Housing.

The aim of this working meeting for CAPEB was to remind the government of the need to reform MaPrimeRénov' in its 2024 version, to simplify the system and to allow access to this market for artisanal construction companies.

We were really dissatisfied with the latest version of MaPrimeRénov' as well as a long-standing dissatisfaction with this bonus and the RGE label which do not fully respond to demand and in particular to the annoyance of craft businesses who asked for simplification and visibility.

Batinfo: What were the focuses of this meeting on MaPrimeRénov'?

Jean-Christophe Repon: The first part of the work envisaged during this meeting is on a short time basis, considering how to remove the obstacles to using the necessary funds from MaPrimeRénov' to generate activity for craftsmen while responding to the energy performance trajectory that France has set for itself.

We know that last year more than a billion euros of the MaPrimeRénov' budget was not used, as Anah announced in its press conference at the beginning of January.

Even if the new version of MaPrimeRénov' may seem interesting on the Mon Accompagnateur Rénov' system, we nevertheless consider it neither operational nor in correspondence with the current market.

The reality on the ground confirms that customers very rarely request large-scale renovations, therefore making the overall renovation objective of this new version of MaPrimeRénov' less relevant.

Arbitrations from the February 15 meeting must be written in the next two weeks to allow them to be operational quickly. They include granting competent companies in France to carry out renovation projects, to have an energy performance certificate and therefore to allow customers to benefit from MaPrimeRénov' without being RGE.

The ministers present seemed to agree with us on the fact of wanting to validate the competence of the craftsman, not on an administrative file as currently, but on an operational file. With 620.000 craft businesses currently, this would greatly accelerate renovation in France. Today, only 60.000 companies are compatible with the MaPrimeRénov' system.

The lack of MAR (MonAccompagnateurRénov') in France while these are mandatory to complete a renovation file was also discussed. We recalled that many files are refused because of this. We therefore proposed that on files which do not require the largest subsidies, we could initiate this file in the absence of a MAR.

Another point that was discussed concerns the possibility of making a single action to contribute to a positive evolution in the number of energy renovations, including overall renovations.

The second part of the planned work is long-term with the desire to simplify the MaPrimeRénov' and RGE files. This axis will continue to be studied throughout the year to apply in 2025.

Among the other demands raised we also have the question of "working better together" with the Temporary Business Group to allow craftsmen to come together to temporarily compete with large general companies.

Batinfo: Do you feel like you have been listened to and understood?

Jean-Christophe Repon: The approach taken by the technostructure, the general management, and the cross-functional planning is really not favorable to the trades. We really need to quickly restore activity for tradespeople and visibility in the renovation market, which will be promising in the coming years.

I would wait for the decrees and arbitrations to be written in 15 days to be definitively satisfied. We know well that as nothing is written, we must remain cautious. I would like to trust them and we will continue to work together.

Interview conducted on Friday February 16.