Is France moving closer to or further away from the other core euro-zone countries?
Financial markets clearly see France as part of the core euro zone, especially with a view to the structural reforms since the 2017 presidential election . But objectively, the question is whether France is moving closer to or further away from the other core euro-zone countries as regards the economy’s structural characteristics: Productivity gains, potential growth; Structural unemployment, labour force skills, employment rate; Effort to modernise capital, innovation; Situation of industry and foreign trade; Situation of public finances, taxes that create distortions; Corporate profitability, investment . We s ee that all things considered, France’ s situation has deteriorated compared with that of the other euro-zone countries for a large majority of criteria, not in terms of gap between France and the other core euro-zone countries, but in terms of change in this gap.