NEWS COVERAGE - FRANCE

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK

March 13th , 2015
Business Sweden in Paris

FRANCE: CANTONAL VOTING PROCEDURES FACE

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN 2015
Elections are being held on the 22nd and 29th of March, resulting in the election of a head of each French county

A new law has been put in place since the 17 of March 2013, fundamentally changing aspects of the voting
The French voter has to vote for a man and a woman as head of county, as a way to promote women as candidates
The number of cantons have been divided by two, from 4030 to 2054

The responsibility of the French county representatives mainly encapsulates five areas:
1.

Revenue de solidarit active, translated as the allocation of resources to most indigent households

2.

Allocation personnalise dautonomie, translated as the eldercare

3.

Management of collges, senior years of middle school

4.

Management of roads, harbours and airfields

5.

Planning of rural areas

The newly voted law on the 10th of March 2015, entitled Nouvelle Organisation Territoriale de la Rpublique will
drastically shift the power from the counties to the regions, in order improve the efficiency of decision making
SOURCES: 1, 2 & 3
BUSINESS SWEDEN

13 MARCH, 2015

FRANCE: THE FAR RIGHT IS PREDICTED TO GAIN

GROUND IN THE 2015 CANTONAL ELECTIONS
The power could switch from left to right in 24 counties, according to France Televisions
Le Parti socialiste (PS), the French ruling socialist party, hasnt been able to rally other left wings parties to form a
united coalition, such as the right wing parties UMP and UDI
As a result, coupled with overall public discontent, the PS will possibly rank third, with a projected support of 20 % at
a national level

Le Front National (FN), the French far right party, could become the biggest political party nationally, at the first round of
the voting
Several polls have showed that approximately 30% of eligible voters would vote for a FN candidate, followed by the
UMP-UDI cooperation at approximately 28 %
The far right party is also the most nationally present political party, promoting candidates in 1909 counties out of
2054

Political parties have openly criticized the newly adopted NOTRe law (see previous page)
The French regions will have a significant impact on the decisions taken at a county level
According to the PS deputy Carlos Da Silva of the Essone county, the future of cantonal elections is uncertain

SOURCES: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
BUSINESS SWEDEN

13 MARCH, 2015

FRANCE: NEW STRATEGY PUT IN PLACE TO PROMOTE

SME:S INTERNATIONALLY
Forum organized the 11th of March by the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Mathias Fekl, with 450 SME to discuss
the improvement of procedures of foreign trade
The devices put in place to promote French exports are criticized being to complex
Promoting exports by cooperating closely with big French groups has to further be developed

Mathias Fekl has conceived a strategy in three steps to facilitate French SMEs implementation internationally:
1.

Chambers of commerce will help SMEs evaluate, structure and validate internationalization projects

2.

The governmental agency Business France will in a second stage prospect the potential markets and develop trade
channels

3.

Chambers of commerce implemented internationally will then assist French SMEs in securing a long lasting
foothold on foreign markets

SOURCE: 9
BUSINESS SWEDEN

13 MARCH, 2015

FRANCE: THE EU GRANTS THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT

ANOTHER TWO YEARS TO MEET ITS DEFICIT OBJECTIVE
The European Commission approves the demand for extension of two years for the French Government to meet its
deficit goal of 3 % of GDP in 2017
An additional savings package of 30 Bn will not be required, as stipulated beforehand
France being granted a third extension since 2009, critics argue that such decisions could undermine the credibility
of the EU
The 2015 deficit is predicted to amount to approximately 4 % of GDP, due to high unemployment according to the
French Government (see chart)
A detailed reform plan must be delivered to the EU by the 15th of April 2015 in addition to what the French
Government presented on the 18th of February in terms of reforms reducing the deficit
Deficit predictions as a percentage of GDP

French Government
predictions
-2,7% -2,8%
-3,6%
-4,3%
SOURCES: 10 & 11
BUSINESS SWEDEN

-3,4%

European Commission
predictions

-4%

2015E

2016E

2017E
13 MARCH, 2015

SOURCES
1. Le Monde 11/03/2015, Comprendre le scrutin des dpartementales en 5 minutes,
http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/video/2015/03/09/publier-le-8-ou-9-mars-2015-comprendre-le-scrutin-des-departementales-en-5-minutes_4589094_823
448.html
2. Vie Publique 27/01/2015, Les Dpartementales 2015: les rgles de llection des 22 et 29 mars,
http://www.vie-publique.fr/actualite/dossier/elections-departementales-2015/departementales-2015-regles-election-22-29-mars-2015.html
3. Vie Publique 28/01/2015, Projet de loi portant nouvelle organisation territoriale de la Rpublique,
http://www.vie-publique.fr/actualite/panorama/texte-discussion/projet-loi-portant-nouvelle-organisation-territoriale-republique.html
4. Linternaute 11/03/2015, Dpartementales 2015 : le FN embarrass par une affaire [dates, candidats, rsultats],
http://election-departementale.linternaute.com/
5. France Tvinfo 11/03/2015, L'article lire pour tout comprendre aux lections dpartementales,
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/departementales/l-article-a-lire-pour-tout-comprendre-aux-elections-departementales_845281.html
6. France Tvinfo 05/03/2015, Dpartementales : cinq graphes qui prouvent que la gauche a du souci se faire,
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/departementales/departementales-cinq-graphes-qui-prouvent-que-la-gauche-a-du-souci-a-se-faire_840383.html
7. Le Monde 06/03/2015, Les dpartements sauvent leur peau pour linstant,
http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2015/03/06/les-departements-sauvent-leur-peau-pour-l-instant_4588784_823448.html?xtmc=nouvelle_organisati
on_territoriale_de_la_republique&xtcr=1
8. Les Echos 10/03/2015, Dpartementales: la droite rve dun grand chelem en Ile-de-France,
http://www.lesechos.fr/politique-societe/politique/0204211170133-departementales-la-droite-reve-dun-grand-chelem-en-ile-de-france-1100414.php
9. Les Echos 11/03/2015, Matthias Fekl veut aider les PME se projeter linternational,
http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20150311/lec1_france/0204214406775-matthias-fekl-veut-aider-les-pme-a-se-projeter-a-linternational-1100829.php
10. Les Echos 09/03/2015, Dficit de la France: Draghi met en garde la Commission contre tout laxisme,
http://www.lesechos.fr/monde/europe/0204212909532-deficit-de-la-france-draghi-met-en-garde-la-commission-contre-tout-laxisme-1100368.php

11. BBC News 10/03/2015, European Union grants France two year deficit extension,
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31815975
BUSINESS SWEDEN

13 MARCH, 2015