Lille pledges 80 million euros to support the local economy

The focus is on the enterprises and the energy transition

The European Metropolis of Lille has announced on Monday an ambitious plan to support the local economy, gravely affected by the coronavirus crisis. The massive economic recovery plan previews 66,1 million euros to help economic actors in difficulty and encourage the restart of their activity. This amount comes on top of other economic measures implemented by the French authority since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis.

Relaunch of the economic activity of Lille

The Metropolis of Lille will be providing more than 80 million euros overall to support the restart of its economy, according to a municipal press release published on Monday 1 June. Some 14,6 million have already been invested in anti-crisis measures, but this clearly was not enough.

That is why the authority has decided to increase its aid to help companies, artisans and local traders. What is more, the plan comes on top of the systems put in place by the State and all the institutional actors, including the Hauts-de-France Region.

The most urgent task, according to Lille, is to successfully maintain the economic activity in order to preserve jobs, especially in the most affected sectors that were suddenly forced to close their doors. That is precisely why the restart plan has been drafted in consultation with the business community and all municipalities, reads the press release.

The stimulus plan is of a completely different scale and revolves around nine areas, with an emphasis on companies and energy transition projects.

It previews to cover 3 months’ worth of rent for up to 16 000 traders, lump-sum aid to small businesses, traders, artisans, farmers, horticulturalists, and tourism professionals committed to the ecological and energy transition (20 million).

A new advance system will help micro-enterprises with up to 30,000 euros each repayable within 3 to 5 years. 17 actions implemented with the municipalities will support the proximity trade.

Important measures are previewed to support the construction sector, energy renovation and housing. Among others, some 9 million will go for the renovation of social housing units, while another 12 are previewed or the renovation of student residences in the Cité Scientifique, improving the quality of life for students and enhancing the attractiveness of the Lille campus.

Finally, there are concrete actions to support the tourist and events sector. Lille will be mobilising EUR 2.4 million to promote the destination attractiveness, to boost the business tourism and event dynamics in the metropolitan area.

About the European Metropolis Lille

The Metropolis of Lille is composed of 95 municipalities and has 1,2 million inhabitants. It is competent in the fields of housing, economy, public space, town and country planning, urban policy, culture, sport, tourism and more.