France's court of auditors estimates $6.8 billion public spending for 2024 Paris Olympics
FILE - Passengers in the back of a taxi film themselves as they leave the Eiffel Tower, decorated with the Olympic rings ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, on July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
France's court of auditors provided Monday the first official estimate of public spending tied to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, with the global public expenditure estimated at nearly six billion euros ($6.8 billion).
The Cour des Comptes said in its preliminary report, which was published ahead of the 2030 Winter Olympics also awarded to France, that the spending includes €2.77 billion for the event organization and €3.19 billion for infrastructure investments.
Paris 2024 organizers challenged the estimates in comments attached to the report. They notably said that some expenditures which predated the event and will continue afterward can't be attributed to Games. They also said that attributing major investments to the Olympics, despite being unrelated projects launched long before, is unjustified.
'Through its methodological choices, the Court has in fact declined to examine the only question that would meaningfully inform public debate: how much public money would have been saved if the Games had not been held in Paris?," said Tony Estanguet, the former head of the organizing committee.
"It is undeniable that this amount would be far less than the €6 billion currently cited by the court. The organizing committee, as it already stated during the contradictory procedure, estimates that this figure does not exceed €2 billion, while the expected economic benefits of the Games are said to represent three to five times that amount,' he added.
The Cour des Comptes insisted that its progress report is based on data available as of March 31, 2025, and does not claim to draw final conclusions.
'The report does not include, due to unavailable data, any analysis of the positive or negative effects of the Games on economic activity or tax revenues, nor an assessment of tax expenditures related to their organization,' the Cour said in a summary statement. "On this last point, the tax authorities informed the Court that no overall estimate is currently planned. This position is unsatisfactory, and the Court calls on the State to begin this evaluation without delay.'
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