"We do not work enough": Bruno Le Maire analyzes the French industrial difficulties

The minister has identified "three structural difficulties: working time, taxes and training.

France runs the risk of a "productive decommissioning" and "losing its quality of productive nation", handicapped by structural difficulties, said Monday, October 14 Bruno Le Maire. The Minister of the Economy assures that the French must work more, and that the taxes of production must fall.

On the eve of a presentation in Bercy of the main orientations of the Productive Pact announced in April by Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Le Maire said that France had "good economic results", but that "if we look at the country's structural situation, the risk was a risk of productive decommissioning" .

"We are losing our quality of productive nation, in the industrial as in the agricultural sector, by default of innovation, positioning, skills," the minister told reporters.

THREE MAJOR SECTORS ONLY

"Our production, when we look only at industrial production, is based only on three major sectors, which are wines and spirits, luxury goods and aeronautics," explained Le Maire. Gold, "We do not make a big production and a great economic nation solely on the basis of three sectors" , he insisted.

The presentation of the Productive Pact will bring together several ministers on Tuesday, after nearly six months of consultations with administrations, consulting firms, parliamentarians, employers and unions, as well as local elected officials.

The Mayor has identified "three French structural difficulties" to which the Pact will have to seek to remedy. "We do not work enough" said the Minister of Economy, according to which "the overall volume of hours worked compared to our G7 neighbors and major OECD countries is insufficient".

TOO MANY PRODUCTION TAXES

A point also stressed by the Medef, as the issue of production taxes, on which Mr. Mayor wants to move cautiously with local communities, whose resources depend largely on this fiscal windfall. "Today we have production taxes, which penalize companies, which are seven times higher than in Germany and twice as high as the average of the eurozone countries", regretted the minister.

Finally, "we must go more in the training of skills than what has already been done since the beginning of the five-year period to fill the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are not filled today," a difficulty also frequently pointed fingered by business leaders.

Mr. Le Maire also spoke of the need for "carbon-free and environmentally friendly production", while France's record is "not good" if we take into account the highly carbonated imported products.

GREEN ECONOMY

Moreover, "there is no coherence to favor green finance, to reduce CO2 emissions within our borders if it is for the Treasury to provide guarantees for tens of billions of dollars. euros to export projects that increase carbon footprint abroad, "said the minister.

After the presentation on Tuesday, the consultation phase of the Productive Pact must continue for at least six months and the French will be able to give their opinion online.