At a time when the specter of deindustrialization is resurfacing in France with the return of social plans, the Court of Auditors is looking at the state of industry over the past decade, and its verdict is more than mixed. In a report made public Thursday, November 28, the institution takes stock of public policies in favor of the industry during the years 2013-2023. A period constantly highlighted by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, as the beginning of the reindustrialization of France, after forty years of continuous crises between 1970 and 2000.
The Court of Auditors does not really take up the term reindustrialization and at most concedes “a recent stabilization and at a low level of the weight of industry in the economy” French. Not really anything to brag about in short. The policies carried out under the presidencies of François Hollande (2012-2017) then Emmanuel Macron present, according to the institution, “results still fragile”. France notably remains the poor European student: despite several recovery plans, the share of the manufacturing industry in national wealth stagnates at 11% of gross domestic product, well below that of Germany (21%) and Italy (17.5%).
Broadly speaking, the Court recognizes that industrial employment has certainly increased in order to stabilize “in 2023 around 10% of total employment” in France, but it “however remains significantly lower than in [ses] neighbors (17% in Italy, 18% in Germany) ». As for industrial companies, they are “relatively few” and many are large, internationally oriented groups with significant risks of relocating their activities abroad.
Weight of energy cost
National industry suffers from a chronic loss of competitiveness which has not improved despite the recovery after the health crisis of 2020. This ” stall “ is the cause, according to the Court, of the trade deficit which has continued to widen since the 2000s. Between 2000 and 2023, France went from second to fourth place among exporting countries in Europe. Its mainstays remain aeronautics, space, beverages and luxury. But exports have collapsed in the electrical products, machinery and equipment, and especially automobile sectors.
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