The Paris Games cost nearly six billion euros of public money, according to the Court of Auditors.

The Court estimated "organisational expenses at 2.77 billion euros", including 1.4 billion for security, and those related to infrastructure at 3.19 billion euros.

" There's really no room for controversy ," assured its first president, Pierre Moscovici, during a press conference. However, it was necessary to quickly "get to the bottom of the prices," especially given the current state of France's public finances and preparations for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

The Court of Auditors teased and presented this bill on Olympic Day.

Until now, only the accounts of the Organising Committee (Cojo) with 4.4 billion in expenditure (76 million euros surplus) based almost entirely on private funding and those of Solideo (Olympic Works Delivery Company) including a public share, were known.

Monday's first estimate of public costs includes a number of expenses incurred by the state, local authorities, and public companies: bonuses for police officers, construction of the Olympic Village, and the acceleration of work on metro line 14 in recent weeks to ensure it reaches the Olympic Village on time, etc.

Pierre Moscovici also reported on Monday an estimate made by the Prime Minister's office, which has not been made public until now, of 5.3 billion euros for these Olympic Games, which were " an undeniable success ."

Compared to other editions, "it seems that public spending is more limited than at London 2012," he said.

Impact on the economy

The public bill is a real headache to calculate. Should we include the additional anti-drone devices purchased before the Olympics that will be used afterward?

The Court of Auditors answers yes. A more detailed report will be published by October, by theme.

Similarly, due to " the unavailability of data ," the Court did not include " the positive and negative effects of the Games on economic activity ."

Among the largest expenditure items: security, with more than 35,000 law enforcement officers mobilized in a context of terrorist risk, which represented 1.4 billion euros (including bonuses of nearly 315 million euros for the police and the gendarmerie).

" The Ministry of the Interior's initial forecasts (for security) mentioned a budget of 200 million euros ," recalled Pierre Moscovici.

" I'm not saying we could have secured it with fewer resources ," he commented, but " the initial budget was too low ." More than $304 million has also been invested in cameras, network security, anti-drone equipment, and more.

Given the shortage of private security agents, the State has also invested 78 million euros to train new personnel.

Next comes expenditure on transport and mobility: 570 million euros, including 335 for "service enhancements" from RATP (metro) and SNCF (train).

Regarding infrastructure, the State and local authorities' share in Solideo is 1.65 billion euros.

"Disproportionate costing"

There is some uncertainty regarding the swimmability of the Seine, which has attracted 1.4 billion euros of public investment, but some of it can be attributed to European bonds.

At this stage, the Court of Auditors estimates that the costs attributable to the Games range " between 200 million and one billion euros ." Given " this uncertainty ," they are not included in this assessment.

The organizing committee for the Olympic Games, which will close on June 30, believes that the Court has cast its net too wide and judges that the figure is " disproportionate to reality ," its financial director Fabrice Lacroix told a few journalists, estimating the public bill at " around two billion euros ."

In his response to the Court of Auditors, Cojo President Tony Estanguet regrets that " the positive economic impact of the Games " is not taken into account.

A choice also noted by the Minister of Sports, Marie Barsacq, formerly of the Cojo, in a reaction to the AFP.