Macron Pledges to Repair Riot-Damaged Schools and Town Halls

(Bloomberg) -- Emmanuel Macron pledged swift government support to help mayors rebuild schools, libraries and town halls destroyed during a week of violence that swept across France after the police shooting of a teenager.

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Thousands of insurance claims have started to pour in as small business owners seek to repair stores and offices attacked during the riots, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire promising additional support for those worst hit.

French employers’ lobby Medef estimated the cost of the violence at more than €1 billion ($1.1 billion), with 200 businesses looted, and 300 bank branches and 250 tobacco stores destroyed. The figure doesn’t include public buildings.

“The videos of the riots that circulated around the world hurt the image of France,” Medef head Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux told Le Parisien newspaper. “It’s always difficult to say if the impact will be long lasting, but there will certainly be a drop in reservations this summer, although the season had seemed promising. Many have already been canceled.”

France depends on tourism for some 4% of economic output, according to statistics agency Insee.

French insurers have so far received about 5,900 claims worth a total of some €280 million resulting from the violence, according to Florence Lustman, chair of industry lobby France Assureurs. This compares with 10,000 claims for a cost of €205 million during the last major riots in late 2005.

The unrest in France since the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old of North African descent, on June 27 has underscored long-running tensions over racism and inequality in the country, especially in ethnically mixed neighborhoods around cities and towns. The opposition at both ends of the political spectrum has seized on the crisis as evidence that the government is failing to ensure public safety and narrow economic disparity.

Macron met with more than 200 mayors on Tuesday to discuss the impact and causes of the riots. A continued massive police deployment has led to a significant drop in the level of unrest.

The number of arrests dropped to 16 Tuesday night from a peak of more than 1,300 last Friday.

The number of vehicles burned or buildings damaged has dropped each night since peaking on Thursday, government data show. All told, close to 3,500 people have been arrested since unrest began a week ago.

Le Maire urged business owners to file damage claims quickly, after insurers agreed to extend the window for riot-related claims to 30 days from five.

“I’ve seen that shop owners are in total distress,” Le Maire said in an interview with BFM TV on Wednesday. “I’ve seen their anger sometimes, and their deep sadness and dejection.”

Insurers will also consider reducing the deductibles on claims for those independent businesses worst hit by the violence and have pledged to pay compensation as quickly as possible, Le Maire said earlier this week. The government may in addition scrap social and fiscal charges for shop owners who’ve been the most impacted, he added.

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“If your store has been burned to the ground and a life’s work has been reduced to ashes, the state must be by your side,” he said. “We’ll do everything necessary so that economic activity can calmly pick up again in our country as quickly as possible.”

A survey of 1,005 adults by pollster Ifop carried out on Thursday and Friday showed Macron’s approval rating has risen 2 points to 33%, the highest since March. Still, a separate poll of 1,000 people by Elabe for BFM TV showed that far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s political standing has benefited the most from the riots.

Nahel, whose last name has officially been withheld by authorities, was buried Saturday in Nanterre, his hometown where he was shot at close range in a car. The officer who fired the gun has been charged with murder and is in pre-trial detention.

--With assistance from William Horobin, Ania Nussbaum, Alexandre Rajbhandari and Jenny Che.

(Updates with Le Maire comments from 11th paragraph)

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