2024-10-02 19:15:40
Nearly a month after his installation at the Hôtel de Matignon, the Prime Minister officially signed the financial guarantee from the State which had been requested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the conditional attribution of the Olympic Games and 2030 Winter Paralympics in the French Alps.
” data-medium-file=” data-large-file=” tabindex=”0″ role=”button” class=”size-full wp-image-70436″ alt=”” width=”750″ height=”750″ srcset=” 1080w, 300w, 1024w, 150w, 768w, 600w, 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px”/>
Ahe day after his general policy speech delivered in the hemicycle of the National Assembly – during which he repeatedly mentioned the Paris 2024 Summer Games as a moment of popular communion – Michel Barnier finally signed the guarantee long awaited by the French Alps 2030 project.
While the IOC had requested the issuance of the said guarantee no later than October 1, 2024the French political-institutional context will have somewhat disrupted the calendar, with the appointment of the new Prime Minister at the beginning of September and the late composition of the government team at the end of the same month.
Certainly, the appointment of the man who was Co-President of the Organizing Committee for the Albertville 1992 Games was welcomed with satisfaction and even relief by the Olympic institution in Lausanne (Switzerland) and by the leaders of the French project aimed at bringing back the Winter Games in France.
However, given the priority given to the preparation of the general policy speech and the equally important one of the 2025 budget, Michel Barnier still took the time to sign his signature on a crucial document for the future of the Olympic and Paralympic file. In recent days, the Head of Government had also announced that he would speak with the architects of the said file, while also exchanging with his sidekick from 1992 and historical figure of Olympism, Jean-Claude Killy.
In any case, the suspense ended this Wednesday, October 2, 2024 in the middle of the afternoon, with the unveiling of the letter sent by Michel Barnier to the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach.
In this one-page missive aimed at “Finances – Deficit of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games”the Prime Minister states as follows:
[…] I confirm and undertake to guarantee the financing of any possible budget deficit of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (COJO).
This commitment includes reimbursements to the IOC of advances or other contributions paid to the OCOG by the IOC, which the latter may have to reimburse to third parties in the event of an unforeseen event such as a total or partial cancellation of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 2030.
The budgetary commitments corresponding to this letter of guarantee will be specified within the framework of the public finance law for 2025, which must be approved by Parliament […].
Indispensable, the State guarantee constitutes a prerequisite for each Games Organizing Committee vis-à-vis the IOC wishing to best secure its flagship event.
If there was little doubt about the support of the authorities – especially considering the personal investment of the President of the Republic behind the Paris 2024 project then in support of the French Alps 2030 candidacy – the letter from Matignon’s host still had to be addressed.
However, the dissolution of the National Assembly and the calling of early legislative elections at the end of spring 2024 did not allow the resigning Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, to initial the State’s commitment at the time of the attribution of the Games, on the occasion of the 142nd Session of the IOC meeting in Paris two days before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games.
From now on, the French Alps 2030 will be able to focus on the next major steps to take to effectively begin preparations for the organization of an event which will be held in less than six years straddling the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions. and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur.
If the financial guarantee will have to pass the filter of parliamentary examination by March 2025, it will first be necessary to be able to constitute the Organizing Committee and choose a recognized personality to embody this body.
After Tony Estanguet for Paris 2024, Martin Fourcade represents an option of choice.
Due to his experience, his exceptional record and his current functions as an IOC member, the most successful French athlete in the history of the Games could be the right personality to take up the challenge of the 2030 Games. Unless the political dimension of the tricolor project does not impose another choiceTHE leaders regional authorities being keen to maintain a certain control over the implementation of the organizational system.
In addition to the OCOG which must be installed within five months and whose headquarters could be located in Lyon (Rhône), the Olympic Works Delivery Company, designed on a model similar to that of SOLIDEO for Paris 2024, must also be established with a positioning desired by Renaud Muselier in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), as if to recall the balance of territories between the two Regions party to the project.
Beyond fundamental questions of governance, the French Alps 2030 file must also be able to specify the sites which will be mobilized to receive the competitors and to welcome the hundreds of thousands of spectators expected at the bottom of the slopes and around the ice rinks – particularly with the thorny case of Val d’Isère -, just like the choice of places to celebrate the Ceremonies opening et closing.
The issues of mobility, accessibility, financing, but also heritage between the Northern Alps, more experienced than the Southern Alps, will also be of concern.other important points to be discussed in the coming months.
Similar articles
1727909429
#French #Alps #Michel #Barnier #signs #State #guarantee
