Storm Alex: Macron releases additional funds and promises to remove administrative barriers

“If Mohamed does not go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Mohamed,” says a phrase that was in vogue some time ago. Now the reference advises caution, but Christian Estrosi is not a politician who is afraid to expose himself, and there he was this Monday to the right of Emmanuel Macron to advance the issue on aid following Storm Alex and to silence, at least temporarily, the elected officials who accuse him of collusion with the head of state.

“I am pleased that President Macron has announced the creation of a regular committee for monitoring and reassessing these financial aids, which I have been advocating to track the evolution of needs and ensure commitments are met.
And by announcing €572 million in financial aid, he went along with the wishes of elected officials against the administration’s evaluations, which were too low. It is quite rare and worth noting,” he commented after yesterday afternoon’s meeting. To be clear, it couldn’t be clearer.

Six months after Storm Alex, which devastated a significant part of the Alpes-Maritimes, the President of the Republic decided to bring together all the stakeholders via a videoconference this Monday afternoon, notably in the presence of the Minister of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities, Jacqueline Gourault, as well as the Mayor of Nice and President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, Christian Estrosi, sitting at his side around the table.

The Élysée tenant then gave the floor to the various participants – elected officials, prefects, and parliamentarians – so they could provide an update on “where we are today, and what needs to be done to fulfill the commitments made.”

The present elected officials expressed their needs in terms of aid, while the expectations are not always confirmed by the estimates from the technical teams of the Council for Sustainable Development (CGEDD).

In total, out of the roughly €1.095 billion requested by the local authorities to finance the works on site, the interested party indicated that only €130 million could be mobilized as subsidies under the Solidarity Fund, from the €295 million initially considered.

Following all these appeals, Emmanuel Macron (thanking the prefects Bernard Gonzalez (Alpes-Maritimes) and Xavier Peltier (responsible for reconstruction), whose work has been unanimously recognized) took the floor again to conclude the exchanges: “I said we would mobilize a total of nearly €600 million: we will be there,” he promised, referring to his statements after visiting the affected areas post-storm.

“Regarding the figures, it is €522 to €572 million that we will invest,” he immediately stated, clarifying from the onset that it would be in the upper range. The mission (from the CGEDD), according to the evaluation, mentioned a figure of €130 million? (…) We will raise this figure to €143 million,” he announced. Then he expressed his “willingness to go up to €150 million” on “the State-local authorities agreement,” before finally specifying that “we will mobilize €59.3 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund credit,” and that “€100 million will be allocated from the VAT Compensation Fund” to be added to “€120 million from the Barnier Fund.”

As for the rest, the President of the Republic said he had “taken note of the request regarding administrative authorizations. I urge the prefects to speed up: they have free rein to finalize projects for which we have funding and require a simple green light. Exceptional procedures are needed,” he insisted.

Before giving the green light to reevaluation committees that will be discussed in a follow-up meeting “in a month,” the responsibility of which was entrusted to Minister Jacqueline Gourault.

Everyone satisfied? Not quite, as Deputy Eric Ciotti remains cautious: “As for the past 8 months, I will remain vigilant regarding the implementation of presidential commitments, including those reiterated today.”