PARIS – Emmanuel Macron could be heading in the right direction on social issues; In economics he returns to his liberal DNA.
Days after a government reshuffle, the French president announced a series of reforms to further liberalize the country's labor market and cut red tape for businesses, in what sounded like a revival of his years-long flagship measures.
“We will launch a second act of acceleration, attractiveness and innovation in France,” Macron said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos as he laid out his reform agenda for this year.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, France's economic policy has relied on massive subsidy programs. The heavily indebted country is now relying on reforms that are not intended to further burden the state treasury, but are aimed at stimulating the French economy again and making the country more attractive to foreign investors.
The reforms were first announced at a press conference at the Elysée Palace on Tuesday evening, where Macron pledged to further cut red tape for businesses with a new law to “combat the complexities that protect established rentals and situations.”
He described the reform as “Act II” of the so-called Macron Law, an initial liberalization package from 2015 that Macron proposed as French economy minister.
The aim is to “withdraw some rules and shorten the time frame”. [of administrative procedures,] “Make hiring easier and increase all thresholds” that trigger administrative obligations for companies, Macron said on Tuesday before repeating the remarks in Davos.
The French president also promised a labor market reform that would limit access to unemployment and social benefits for those who reject a job offer, but also better support job seekers with training and housing.
“We will initiate a second phase of reforming our labor market by tightening unemployment insurance rules and making hiring and organization much easier,” Macron said in Davos.
Again, he described it as a “second act” after the controversial labor market reform he implemented in 2017, one of his first measures as president, which provoked strong criticism, especially from the left-wing opposition.
And Macron wants France to become even more attractive for investors. The government is expected to unveil new measures in the spring to attract more financial companies to Paris. This could include further improvements to the country's labor laws as well as tax benefits.
Comments are closed.