When we look at labour costs, skills and the development of industry, we see that in terms of standard of living, France is doing well for the moment

When compared with the other European Union countries, France is one of the countries (along with Italy) with the highest labour costs and the lowest labour force skills. Unsurprisingly, France is also one of the countries where manufacturing production capacity has fallen (along with Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy). All of these developments suggest that France's per capita income (standard of living) will fall significantly in relation to the countries with the highest standards of living, and we are probably only seeing the first signs of this decline today.