On eve of French economic reform, Christophe Mazurier preaches patience

On December 10, French economy minister Emmanuel Macron will introduce sweeping economic legislation aimed at pulling France from the depths of a recession and righting the economy in the eyes of the European Union.

Dubbed the “Law on Growth and Activity,” this latest reform under President Francois Hollande undoubtedly endeavors to reduce unemployment, which reached a record 3.46 million people in October, as well as reduce the budget deficit albatross that has Brussels ready to level hefty fines at Europe’s second-largest economy.

While the exact terms of the reform are unclear, there are reports that two major industries will no longer be protected. Both notaries, a group with a monopoly on certain lucrative legal practices, and long-distance bus companies will be opened to competition. Macron has also been a vocal opponent of the 35-hour workweek, implemented by the Socialist party (also the party of Hollande and Macron) in 2000 to spread employment around but which has lately discouraged new hiring. Macron also wants to simplify the complex system of labor disputes, which has posed yet another barrier to job creation.

Despite polls in France showing that most people understand that reforms, even if harsh, are needed to one-eighty the economy, the progressives behind the bill, like Macron and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, should hunker down for a fight. Most simply, as the Economic Times put it, the reforms will “create losers.” Special interest groups and trade unions will fight the bill’s anti-competitive measures on its way through the legislature. Small business owners will argue that the bill doesn’t go far enough; Reuters reported that a week of protests is planned as this sector fights for lower corporate tax rates. Even many in the Socialist party — especially those farther left than Macron and Valls — plan to rail against its own leaders for what it sees as abandonment of classic Socialist ideals.

Christophe Mazurier, a noted French financier who has spent a career in European finance, sees France’s current plight as one only a few leaders can solve. Macron, who also possesses a background in finance, is someone he both believes in and sees as a capable leader as France takes stock of its economic shortcomings.

In a recent editorial for French newspaper Les Echos, Mazurier said that Macron deserves far less of the scorn he has received since his appointment to minister by Hollande in August. Even before his appointment, Macron was pulling the economic reform strings from even before Hollande was elected, introducing many of the more progressive reforms over the past two and a half years. In that way, Mazurier called him “the synthesis” of Hollande’s increasingly centrist views on the economy.

Mazurier also lauded Macron’s education in the global economy, saying his youth and forward-thinking would be important for France to pull itself out of the mire and rediscover its position in Europe and the world. Macron has the ability to repair the strained relationships between the French government and its business sector and, moreover, understands the realities of the Eurozone and France’s place within it.

For France, the road to redemption will be a long one. French leaders have already told Brussels that if the reforms do pass, the deficit will be lowered only by 2017. There will be more protests to endure, from every side of the economic and political aisle. But with record unemployment, a static GDP and the European Commission breathing down Paris’s neck, the government can sit idle no longer. With Macron, Mazurier told Les Echos, France is finally ready to act.

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