The budget and security are on the menu of the “site meeting” organized Monday, July 25 by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace in view of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. At two years almost to the day of the deadline (July 26 -August 11, 2024), a dozen ministers will work around the Head of State, including Bruno Le Maire (economy), Gérald Darmanin (interior), Sébastien Lecornu (defense), Pap Ndiaye (national education) or the Minister of sports and the Olympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
But for the moment nothing has filtered out of what could come out of such an interministerial meeting. The objective “will be for the ministers to take stock, and possibly mark the points of fragility”assures the Elysée.
“Very stretched on the budget”
The budget issue is one of the worrying elements. A report by the audit committee of the organizers of the Olympic Games (Cojo) recently mentioned the risk of inflation, “unimaginable a few months ago” had regretted the boss of the Cojo, Tony Estanguet, and to which the Olympics do not escape, under the effect in particular of the war in Ukraine.
According to a source familiar with the matter who confided in AFP, “they are very stretched in terms of budget” to keep their envelope of 4 billion euros (ticketing, sponsors and contribution of the IOC), a budget which benefits from the guarantee of the State.
The Cojo is already in negotiations with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to try to get out of certain constraints of the specifications which are costing it dearly. “Without that, they will not succeed”decrypts a former elected official with knowledge of the file.
Recruitment in tension
Other issues are expected to be addressed on Monday such as Games-related employment. Recruitment, in a context of labor shortage, is a factor of concern, especially in sectors already under strain – construction, drivers for the transport of goods or people, hotels and restaurants… Paris 2024 claims 150,000 jobs mobilized by the event.
The subject of transport is also a subject in its own right, as is the question of safety, which will be on everyone’s mind. Chance of the calendar, this meeting falls five days after the disclosure by the weekly The chained Duck a provisional report from the Court of Auditors, devoted to the security of the Olympics.
The sages of rue Cambon identify several areas of concern shared by security sources, ranging from the securing of the opening ceremony with its unprecedented staging on the Seine, to the lack of private security agents, or the risks of terrorism and cyberattacks. For the Court of Auditors, the copy is still to be reviewed, considering in particular that a “more precise definition of security needs is becoming urgent”.
Get the French to join
And ever since the incidents in the Champions League final at the Stade de France on May 28, doubts have arisen over France’s ability to secure such an event.
Another stage point is planned with the elected officials ” in September “, with the town hall of Paris, the Île-de-France region, the elected officials of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, bordering the capital, or the French Olympic Committee (Cnosf). It will again be a question of working on these issues, but also of bearing the concern for the legacy that the event must leave, or even the avenues to make the French adhere to these Olympic Games.
