12. Financial Assistance for Starting a Business in France

1. 12.1. Introduction
2. 12.2. Assistance to Unemployed
3. 12.3. Regional Development Schemes
4. 12.4. Bank Finance
5. 12.5. Assistance with Employee Costs

12.3. Regional Business Development Schemes in France

There are various forms of assistance available to those located in urban and rural development areas. You might also be pleasantly surprised at just how widespread are these areas.

There are some schemes that operate on a nationwide basis and other administered by the regional or local authorities.

The main national development areas (and their acronyms!) are:

• Zones de revitalisation urbaine (ZRU)
• Zones de revitalisation rurale (ZRR)
• Zones Prime d’Aménagement due Territoire (PAT)
• Territoires ruraux de développement prioritaire (TRDP)
• Zones Franches Urbaines (ZFU)

It is simply beyond the scope of these pages to go into the detail of these schemes as they are extremely varied.

The assistance available in these areas is often very generous. It may be in the form of grants, but the main type of aid is through taxation relief and full or partial exemption from the payment of social security contributions.

In most cases these concessions are time limited, but they can be available for five or more years. In some cases, the assistance is not available if you operate under micro-entreprise tax status, so be careful of the temptation to set up on this basis, just because it is easier to operate.

Indeed, even though you may not be living in a development area, some local communes and Conseil Régional offer discretionary assistance to a new business becoming established in their area.

If you have a business start-up project that is has something innovative about it, then make contact with another national business development agency called OSEO.