"France is in a state of emergency." But this time the alarm does not refer to the security problem that arose following the terrorist attacks of 13 November, but to the country's economic difficulties to which Francois Hollande intends to respond through a plan aimed at combating unemployment.
The French President ups the ante in view of the 2017 presidential elections and pledges not to run again for the Elysée if he fails to reverse the so-called unemployment curve.
The program consists of seven measures that will be financed “with over 2 billion euros of budget efforts”i.e. savings and spending cuts. In detail, the disbursement of one billion euros of state funds is expected for the training of 500 unemployed. For training, the government will also be able to count on the help of social partners who will make an additional effort of 80 billion euros, while to date there are still uncertainties about the possible participation of the regions.
The plan should also establish tax incentives of two thousand euros for SMEs that they hire with open-ended or fixed-term contracts of at least six months.
Finally, Hollande stressed that economic growth remains too weak to have a "sustainable impact on unemployment" which during his presidency reached 10,6%, the highest level for 18 years. As for consumer spending "it is not strong enough" and the recovery of business investment "is too fragile".
