“The house is on fire. France is destroying 8,000 jobs a day,” said Pierre Gattaz, the new leader of business federation MEDEF.
Mr Gattaz said the avalanche of “very dogmatic” measures imposed by Mr Hollande during his first months in power have put companies under enormous stress, and little has been done yet to reverse the damage despite a change in tone. “The government must step up to its responsibilities. Companies can’t till a soil full of rocks and brambles. It is private enterprise that will save France. The public sphere can’t create jobs, only companies can do that, and they’re the heroes.”
The chief executives of top firms including Peugeot Citroën, EADS, Sanofi and Publicis signed a joint letter to Les Echos, complaining that France is being suffocated by high taxes and an over-regulated system that is no longer fit for purpose.
“Unemployment has reached record levels. The trade deficit is getting worse. Profit margins are the weakest in the eurozone. This calls for urgent measures. It is a bitter reality, more so because other countries touched deeply by the crisis such as the US or Ireland are recovering," the letter read.
The group called for a radical shake-up of labour markets to let each firm set its own working hours, and a “coherent” energy policy to bring down costs from current ruinous levels. Gas prices are three times as high as in the US. » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Monday, July 08, 2013
