‘La French Tech’ Arrives Under Macron, but Proves No Panacea

PARIS – In full Steve Jobs mode, President Emmanuel Macron of France donned a black turtleneck in January and put on twitter celebrates the founding in France of 25 “unicorns” startups – those with a market value of more than 1 billion euros, or nearly $1.1 billion.

He claimed that the French startup economy had “changed the lives of the French people” and “strengthened our sovereignty.” It also helps create jobs: fall to 7.4%, the lowest level in a decade.

The startup boom is a major milestone for a young president elected five years ago as a relentless man who promises to open up the economy and make it competitive in the world. The 21 st century.

To some extent, Mr. Macron has succeeded, attracting billions of euros in foreign investment and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, many in tech startups, in a country with resistance to change is stub. But the disruption is just that, and the president has simultaneously left many French people feeling insecure and dissatisfied, left behind or ignored.

Like Mr. Macron seek re-election Starting Sunday, there will be two countries voting – a predominantly urban France that recognizes the need to change to meet the far-reaching economic and technological challenges of the times, and a predominantly urban France. the ‘periphery’, wary of innovation, struggling to overcome, panicking over immigration and resenting a leader seen as the embodiment of arrogance of the privileged .

Which France shows up at the polls with the most number will determine the outcome.

In many Western societies, the simultaneous spread of technology and inequality have raised acute problems, stirring up social tensions, and France is no exception. If disappointed France prevails, Marine Le PenThe longtime candidate of nationalism, will most likely prevail as well.

Worried he may have lost his leftist side by advocating entrepreneurship and market reform, Mr Macron this past week replicated the left’s call, using phrases like “life ours is worth more than their profits” to suggest his misperception isn’t the whole story.

He told France Inter radio that “fraternity” was the most important word in France’s national motto, and said during a visit to Brittany that “solidarity” and “equality of opportunity” would be key central topic of the last second term.

The pledges appear to be signs of growing anxiety about the outcome of the election. After several months in which Mr. Macron’s re-election seemed assured, the gap between him and Ms. Le Pen has narrowed. The top two candidates in Sunday’s vote will qualify for the round on April 24.

The election will be largely determined by the perception of the economy. In favor of Mr. Macron, the country recovered faster than expected from the coronavirus lockdown, with the economy growth reached 7 percent after a terrible recession caused by the pandemic.

The most significant cultural transformation has come in the technology sector, where Mr. Macron’s determination to create a new technology-focused startup culture has brought about changes the government considers necessary. for the future of France.

Cédric O, secretary of state for digital affairs, wearing jeans and a white shirt without a tie, admitted to being obsessed. Day in and day out, he outlines the future of “la French technology” from his spacious office at the Ministry of Finance.

Five years ago, that might have seemed odd, but something stirred. “It’s important to be obsessed because the danger that France and Europe face is to be removed from history,” said Mr O, 39, borrowing a line often used by Mr. Macron. “We have to get back to the international technology race.”

To that end, Mr. Macron open station F, a mammoth incubator project in Paris that represents France’s startup ambitions, and won tax credits of nearly 10 billion euros and other incentives to attract research and business in artificial intelligence. create. A new bank was created to finance startups.

The president attracted and dined multinational executives, creating a annual gathering at Versailles called “Choose France.”

Franck Riester, Minister of Foreign Trade of France, said that since 2019, France has become the leading destination for foreign investment in Europe, and more than 70 investment projects worth 12 billion euros have been committed by foreign investors. foreign multinationals at meetings in Versailles.

Over the past four years, IBM, Germany’s SAP, and DeepMind, the London-based machine learning company owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, have ramped up investments in France and created thousands of jobs.

Facebook and Google have also increased their presence in France and their artificial intelligence teams in Paris. Salesforce, the American cloud computing company, is moving forward with more than 2 billion euros in committed investments.

Thomas Clozel, a trained physician and founder in 2016, said: “Macron brought about a cultural change, where France suddenly opened up to the world of donors. Owkin, a startup that uses Artificial Intelligence to personalize and improve medical treatment. “He made things easy for startups and thus changed the view of France as an anti-capitalist society.”

François Hollande, the predecessor of Mr Macron’s Socialist Party, famously declared in 2012: “My enemy is the financial world”. As a result, Mr. Clozel said, securing capital as a startup in France was a problem, so he chose to incorporate it in the United States.

No more.

“Today, I am thinking of reunification in France,” he said. “The ease of dealing with the government, the group of startups helping each other, and the French pride in new technology are all attractions.”

Among the startups that have made a significant impact on French lives are Doctolib, a website that allows patients to schedule medical appointments and tests online, and Backmarket, an online marketplace for refurbished tech gadgets just became France’s most valuable start-up. , at $5.7 billion.

They started life before Mr. Macron took office, but have grown exponentially over the past five years.

“I have made 56 investments in the last two years and 53 in the last two years,” said Jonathan Benhamou, a French entrepreneur who founded PeopleDoc, a company that helps simplify access to information for HR departments. That number is in France.

Currently funding new business ventures and focusing on a new startup called Resilience In the area of ​​personalized cancer care, Mr. Benhamou said Mr. Macron had “gave investors confidence in stability and created a virtuous cycle.”

Talented engineers no longer go elsewhere because there is an “ecosystem” for them in France, Mr. O said.

Mr. Macron stressed that the opening of the economy is consistent with preserving protections for French workers and the emergence of French technology does not mean that the embrace of capitalism is not limited. behind the explosion of American creativity.

Despite the presidential overhauls, France remains one of the most expensive countries As for payroll taxes, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, hourly labor costs are close to €38, close to the levels seen in Sweden, Norway and other Nordic countries.

“We knew we had to go further,” said Riester, the foreign trade minister, in a recent interview. “We still have some brakes that can be removed from the economy, and we have to cut some red tape going forward.”

“But we also believe we will maintain a different system than in the United States,” he added. “It’s our culture and our history, and in the end, we thought it might be better to attract talent from all over the world.”

Before Mr Macron’s election, unemployment hovered around 10%, growth was low, and wealth taxes, among other fiscal measures, deterred foreign investment. France is considered by many to be an anti-entrepreneurship country.

Mr. Macron cut France’s corporate tax rate from 33% to 25% and introduced a flat tax of 30% on capital gains. He simplified Labyrinth Labor Code, making hiring and firing easier. His government has funneled billions of dollars into retraining programs and make it harder to continue receiving unemployment benefits.

These policies boosted the economy while creating a lot of hostility towards the president in a France still closely tied to its system of social solidarity. It’s a country that tends to believe that if work has its place, quality of life will have a better place. The anger and alienation that sparked the 2018 Yellow Vest movement is still lurking under the surface.

Mr Macron’s campaign proposal to raise the retirement age to 65 from 62 – rejected by Ms Le Pen – has received widespread outrage.

While entrepreneurs are creating new companies faster than ever, many jobs are precarious. Delivery workers for UberEats, Deliveroo, Amazon and other online shopping portals have low income security and scarce benefits. Some French industries are still strugglingdespite Mr. Macron’s vows to revive manufacturing.

The difficulties in these parts of the economy are deeply felt, and that is where Mr. Macron is vulnerable.

One increase suddenly The cost of living, partly due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, has quickly become one of the biggest issues facing the candidates.

On a recent visit to a working-class district in Dijon – one of the very few campaign stops by a president who often seemed more concerned about discussing the war in Ukraine with the President. Vladimir V. Putin of Russia rather than talking about the upcoming elections – Mr. Macron was noticed by the crowd.

“You don’t realize,” said one man. “Put yourself in the shoes of a French family. Shopping, paying for gas, horrible! ”

Asked by a woman how he could survive on the minimum government subsidy of around $620 a month, Mr Macron said: “I never thought it was a good idea to give checks to people in need. ways to solve their problems”.

Instead, he said, it’s essential to find ways to help them get back into the workplace.