{"id":4067,"date":"2018-01-25T15:44:26","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T15:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4067"},"modified":"2018-03-02T08:55:18","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T08:55:18","slug":"operation-seduction-a-week-in-the-life-of-the-french-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4067","title":{"rendered":"Op\u00e9ration S\u00e9duction: a week in the life of the President"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emmanuel Macron continues to surf the wave that swept him to power in the French presidential election in 2017. John Egan<\/em> reviews a week in which his engagements with the global elite and local workers bring together both ends of his plan \u2013 a new economic dawn for France.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cFrance is back\u201d, Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced in English to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

It was a keynote speech packed with symbolism, preferring English to articulate his economic liberalism to the assembled ranks of leading capitalists, before switching to his native French to mix in the essential social democracy \u00e0 l’Europe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Without social justice and a wider sharing of the benefits of economic growth, \u201cSchumpeter will very quickly resemble Darwin\u201d, he said, referring to the need to avoid winners-take-all outcomes. \u201cEconomic growth is not an end in itself \u2026 it stays a means\u201d, and to cement the distinction he went on to implore enterprises that invest in developing countries to double their investment to educate the children of that country, so that all might benefit from stability and growth potential.<\/p>\n

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This mix of economic growth and social responsibility is at the heart of Macron\u2019s grand plan for France and for Europe, and he has embarked on his mission to unite the two forces with a suitcase packed with the powerful instruments his presidential kudos has bestowed.<\/p>\n

On Monday Macron, together with Premier Ministre \u00c9douard Philippe and 16 senior members of the French Government, welcomed 140 multinational business leaders to the splendour of the Palace of Versailles. The summit was entitled \u201cChoose France\u201d.<\/p>\n

A convenient stop-over en route<\/em> to Davos for many, the event brought together Sundar Pichai (Google), Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Vasant Narasimhan (Novartis), Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan) and James Quincey (Coca-Cola) among the collected dignitaries. They were invited to bring their ideas for what France could do for their companies. It was not a showcase \u2013 the deliberations took place behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

It was a speed dating event choreographed for the invitees to have individual discussions with Government ministers. In parallel were symposia on subjects that included artificial intelligence and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games \u2013 considered by the government to be special assets to sell France as \u201cthe place to be\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fine dining surrounded by the palatial extravagances of Louis XIV amplified the message. But Macron must also heed another message, one that harks back to events that happened two King Louis’ later. He is not to lose his head.<\/p>\n

Already Macron has been tagged by his political adversaries on left and right as President of the rich. Macron needs to convince those that voted for him that what he is doing will lead to investment, enterprise and jobs.<\/p>\n

Though the mood music is encouraging there is little solid evidence that the first rays of sunlight are heralding a glorious new dawn for the French economy. The previous administration fought hard to reduce the high unit labour costs that locked down France\u2019s international competitiveness. However, the continuous decline of France\u2019s share of export markets has continued unabated, even in comparison with its European partners. As a consequence, its trade deficit for 2017 was about \u20ac63 billion \u2013 about double that of the UK. New investment is urgently needed.<\/p>\n

French products are generally perceived to be of average quality \u201cnot sufficiently innovative and always too expensive\u201d, according to a survey of 480 foreign business customers by Coe-Rexecode, cited in the French newspaper Le Monde<\/em>. This is the reality that Macron\u2019s new investment strategy is designed to redress.<\/p>\n

The first tranche of Presidential law-making has been pushed through by ordonnance<\/em> \u2013 limiting parliamentary debate with an executive power that would make Donald Trump turn green with envy. Removal of a tax on capital holdings, except for property, and a freeing up of the labour market with a dilution of union influence on industrial relations at a national level are high on the list. The aim over the five-year presidency is also to reduce companies\u2019 corporation tax from 33.3 per cent to 25 per cent. These gestures will not be missed \u2013 neither by the grand executives assembled in Versailles, nor the workers in the factories and fields who live under the ever-present threat that globalisation presents to their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

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‘Economic growth is not an end in itself \u2026 it stays a means’<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Macron currently has oxygen from doing what he said he was going to do in his presidential campaign. Also, there is a general acknowledgement that France needs to change \u2013 in a way that adheres to the three principles of its republic: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.<\/p>\n

Hence, interspersed with his appearances alongside global elites, Macron is careful to mix in events to show that his plan for France is working. This week he unveiled projects and investments of about \u20ac3bn euros, according to Le Monde<\/em>. Just hours before his Versailles appearance he was present at a Toyota plant in Onnaing, in the industrial north of France, to announce an investment of \u20ac400 million and 700 jobs. After Davos, today he heads straight to rural France. He will spend two days in Puy-de-D\u00f4me, land of volcanos, to counter a charge that he has shown contempt for the villages of France, levelled by Laurent Wauquiez, the new leader of the main right-wing opposition party Les R\u00e9publicains<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The distance between Davos and Puy-de-D\u00f4me is small compared to the distance Macron may have to travel to help reconcile opposing economic and social forces and avoid an inevitable rise of protectionism and populism that, he warned his Davos audience, would be the consequence of their failure to do so.<\/p>\n

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Headline Photo Credit: Frederic Legrand – COMEO\/Shutterstock.com<\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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