Paris 2024: restaurants and shops should prepare their compensation claims now

On 24 June 2024 the French Government announced the creation of a commission to compensate restaurants and retailers penalised by the security measures for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will not be up and running until June 2025.

A demanding regime

Under the case law, compensation requires abnormal and special loss directly caused by the administrative measures. Businesses must show a measurable drop in turnover, mainly attributable to the Games, compared with earlier periods. If annual results match or beat the previous year’s, nothing will be paid.

Staying open during the Games and keeping day-by-day records are therefore, in practice, preconditions for any claim. Compensation commissions set up for tramway works, as in Besançon, show what these bodies look for.

Don’t wait for the commission

Businesses affected should start pulling together, with their accountant and lawyer, the figures their claim will rest on.