ADVERTISEMENT

France May Reverse Bookstore Closures Amid Lockdown Anger

France to Close Supermarket Bookshelves to Quell Shopkeeper Ire

The French government is facing stiffer resistance to its second lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, forcing it to rewrite rules on book sales and consider lifting restrictions early for smaller stores.

France went into a second national lockdown on Friday as a surge in cases risks overwhelming the health system. Unlike in the spring, schools remain open and a wider range of businesses and retailers can continue to operate.

But local shops selling items deemed non-essential, such as clothes, toys and books, are not permitted to open to the public.

After a weekend of outcry and defiance from shopkeepers, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said late Sunday he would ban supermarkets from selling non-essential products such as toys or books “as a matter of fairness.” On Monday morning, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire went a step further, saying he would look at the option of reopening small stores as soon as Nov. 12 instead of Dec. 1.

“I can totally understand that people are upset that you can sell items such as flowers and books in supermarkets but not in local shops,” Castex said in an interview on TF1 Sunday.

He added that the lockdown measures “aren’t meant to annoy the French population but to protect them.” He said the pandemic “has taken dramatic proportions” with one person every 30 seconds hospitalized in France.

Le Maire, who called for bookstores to be permitted to reopen in the first lockdown, will meet with shopkeeper federations this week to work on new protocols, such as shopping by appointment. That could allow as many retailers as possible to open from Nov. 12.

In the meantime, the finance minister urged French people to respect the latest rules and warned that a deeper health crisis would worsen the economic situation.

“When we are in a health crisis, an economic crisis and a terrorism crisis, there is no room for the positions of individuals, there is just room for the collective position,” Le Maire said on RTL radio Monday. “That’s called the state and today we need to respect the rules of the state.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.