The complexity of the tax system, the regulatory uncertainty and the 3.500 pages of the Labor Code. These, according to a book written by Jean-Yves Durance and Anne-Catherine Outin-Adam, two directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Paris region, are the main causes of the phenomenon which is worrying France: the flight of large companies. Or at least their operational bases.
Not only in Italy, therefore, bureaucracy and legal complexity grip businesses. After all, it is enough to look at the latest striking cases from beyond the Alps: the energy giant Total, back from the tragic death of CEO Christophe de Margerie, has just transferred the treasury to London, and the CEO of the luxury group has followed the same route Kering, Jean-François Palus, the number one of the insurance company Axa Investment Managers, Andrea Rossi, and Christophe Navarre, Executive Director of Moet Hennessy.
But the great exodus is not directed only towards the English capital: the group of buildings Lafarge, which has just merged with the Swiss Holcim, has chosen the Swiss country for the new headquarters, and Jean-Pascal Tricoire, president and CEO of the electricity group Schneider, moved its operations center in Asia to Hong Kong.
“The situation is potentially very dangerous,” declares a Le Figaro Yves Durance, vice-president of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The escape of the top management is due to taxation and a lack of attractiveness of Paris and France". And the consequences of this phenomenon? "The decision-making centers have an important 'training' role for the national economy, because by keeping talent in the area it is easier to cultivate others: shock therapy is needed, with a drastic cultural change that affects taxation and labor law" .
