At the beginning of the epidemic, local authorities in France made an effort to provide tools and support to citizens, companies and caregivers.

The national associations of local authorities compiled lists of best practices and measures taken in different cities to help them learn from each other. After the confinement was imposed a lot of these initiatives started using digital tools. Local authorities that were more active online, were able to respond faster than others.

Some of the cities activated quite quickly. The city of Nice, for example, launched several innovative initiatives rapidly to help people stay at home with comfort, to protect city workers from the virus or to take care of eldest people.

Local authorities equipped pupils with laptops to be able to continue from home their school activities, that were now online. Aude department, in South of France, gave 200 computers to pupils, and 150 4G keys. In Reunion Island, city of Saint-André also offered tablets to 720 pupils.

The cities used social media to support their citizens during isolation, providing information and organising online events. They also made available online numerous cultural resources.

People that were weak already before the confinement, were affected more by the crisis: disabled, older people, and those far from their families.

The city of Avignon (Vaucluse department) tried to identify them and call them every week to ensure they’re in good health, and that their meals are delivered or just to provide them with the opportunity to talk if they wanted to. 

Paris launched several initiatives all around the city to detect homeless people and provide them with food, accommodation and means to communicate with their families. Sète (Hérault department) supports the weakest families with   a financial allowance.

Several cities offered tablets to allow people to communicate with their distant families, and numerous associations organised solidarity chains in their buildings or their neighbourhoods.

As there were not enough masks, gloves or uniforms to supply caregivers, local authorities made efforts either to buy or to put local companies into establishing production lines. As an example, the city of Valence (Drôme department) ordered 64.000 masks to a regional company to equip its inhabitants.

Farmers and food producers -which is a significant sector in France- were also hit by the crisis. Smaller producers could not sell anymore in the city markets, and they needed to find other ways to work.

Local authorities tried to group commands and opened town halls, schools or reception halls to authorise them to sell their production, respecting the hygiene conditions. In Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantique department), the city organised collective purchase orders to local producers and opened its market places exceptionally for them. Arrens-Marsous (Hautes-Pyrénées department) opened its reception hall to allow inhabitants to get their ordered local products once a week. 

The regions also tried to support companies to survive during this hard period. Their national association announced a massive financial help, but more local initiatives are implemented, more tailor-made to the local economic profile.

In the most touristic regions, where activity begins with spring holidays, authorities tried to help the sector with financial and fiscal resources but also with administrative help to get the existing subventions. In Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, SMEs can ask support from a dedicated team if they need help with their subventions files. 

Now, one of the priorities of the local authorities is to help companies which are not qualified to get bank loans, since some of them do not have access to bank finance despite the state guarantee, as they were weak already before the crisis.

More information

ESPON is collecting evidence on how national and local actors are reacting to the COVID-19 crisis. in this context, Caroline Garcia, a journalist from France, offered to write a summary of the situation in France and the reaction of the local authorities to the crisis. ESPON is open to host any other authors covering the ESPON countries

• Author: Caroline Garcia, journalist [email protected] 
  

Article edited by Nikos Lampropoulos, ESPON Project Expert Press and Media Activities