Stop or again? It should be stop and go. After two years of existence, the “Macron plan” to support the creation of 5,000 local sports facilities (multisports areas, 3×3 basketball courts, skate parks, etc.) will end at the end of 2023. But the support local authorities by the State in the field of sports infrastructures – not numerous enough, unequally distributed and often aging – should continue in another form.

The question of stopping or extending the “Macron plan” has been the subject of intense exchanges in recent weeks between the Ministry of Budget and the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) in the context of budget discussions for the year 2024, marked by a desire to reduce State spending. The decision was finally made not to continue this program, which was acclaimed by local authorities.

To date, approximately 3,000 local facilities have been co-financed by the State, with more than 1,000 having been delivered. With the projects being validated, the 200 million euros, which were to be consumed in three years (2022, 2023, 2024), will most likely be by the end of this year. And the requests greatly exceed this envelope.

Given this success, it would have been paradoxical to stop everything there, when, from local elected officials to representatives of sports federations, via… the Minister of Sports and JOP, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, everyone, the latter months, agreed that it was necessary to maintain efforts in this area. And, moreover, the government has assured that “the landscape of sports infrastructure will change through the Olympic Games”, which France will organize in the summer of 2024.

This is why discussions have focused on the implementation of a new plan, which will benefit from a financial envelope of 100 million euros for the year 2024. This will aim to respond to some of the priorities stated by the government in terms of sports policy: thermal renovation, the development of the practice of sport at school and the continuation of equipment for deprived areas, whether these are priority neighborhoods for the the city or rural revitalization areas.

Thermal renovation of sports infrastructure

In terms of ecological transition, the objective will be to make this plan one of the levers to support the thermal renovation of sports infrastructures, many of which are “strainers” – 80,000 out of 300,000 require work, according to the ANS. This will extend the efforts made on this subject: 50 million euros financed 166 files in 2021 and 50 million have been committed for 2022 and 2023. The new plan will also be in addition to the “green” fund, announced by the government at the end of August 2022 (2 billion euros) for which sports equipment is eligible.

With regard to the practice of sport at school, the ambition will be to co-finance equipment in or near schools. Without replacing the local authorities, on which the latter depend (and the associated investments), the State will thus initiate or prioritize projects by providing funding.

Support for investments in urban policy priority neighborhoods and rural areas will be an extension of the current “Macron plan”. Author of an evaluation report on this last device, published on May 16, the deputy Benjamin Dirx (Renaissance) had recommended that the budget envelope in the event of an extension be above all adapted “to the needs of the remaining deficient territories”.

Tense budgetary context

“Sports venues will flourish in our neighborhoods and in our cities,” Emmanuel Macron promised in September 2021, the day after the Tokyo Games, when he announced the launch of the 5,000 equipment plan. If the local actors have largely subscribed to the latter, they are also numerous to point out that it often fills only small gaps and does not fundamentally transform the practice of sport.

“It’s good, but these are small pieces of equipment and it does not respond to the shortage and the accumulated delay”, noted, a few weeks ago, Clément Rémond, co-president of the FSGT 93 (Fédération sportive et gymnique du travail) and who is also one of the organizers of CoPER 93, a permanent collective for the defense and promotion of PE and associative sport in the department.

The new plan envisaged by the government should not fully meet the expectations expressed by local elected officials on the extent of the support expected from the State. The National Association of elected officials in charge of sport, for example, has long been calling for a multi-annual programming law, with an effort of 500 million euros per year over five years.

However, the project is part of a tight budgetary context, the various ministries having been asked to reduce their expenditure by 5% (excluding payroll) in 2024. The Ministry of Sports and JOP, which claims to have made proposals to participate in this reduction in expenditure, however, will see its budget increase by a few tens of millions of euros, excluding the financing of the JOP, which will decrease (to 100 million euros, against 300 million in 2023) due to the drop in needs for the Olympic construction sites.

The Ministry considers that, if it has succeeded in “selling” this project to extend the financing of sports equipment, it is because it responds to certain government priorities in terms of sports policy. And that it can also be a lever for the State to direct investments while encouraging communities to invest.