Vol 17 (2020) - Issue 6

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France Relaunch: Economic Recovery and Growth amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Synopsis
France continues to grapple with the unprecedented dual challenge of an alarming health crisis and an ensuing economic crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Constant efforts to maintain and refuel economic activity resulted in the implementation of an array of significant governmental measures, the most recent keystone measure being the EUR 100 billion France Relaunch plan (‘France Relance’, hereafter the Relaunch plan), presented by the French Prime Minister on 3 September 2020. A simplified break down of all the measures of the Relaunch plan as applicable to individuals, businesses, local authorities and administrative bodies may be accessed on the dedicated government website. The Relaunch plan, as the name aptly suggests, aims to revive the economy by restoring the pre COVID-19 pandemic level of GDP by 2022, coupled with a larger long term objective of transforming the French economy, by 2030, into one which is more independent, more competitive, more attractive and more sustainable. Thus, in the words of the French President, the ambitious Relaunch plan strives to ‘transform risk into chance, crisis into opportunity.’
With a view to attain these objectives, the Relaunch plan is structured on three principal axes -ecological transition, competitiveness and social and territorial cohesion– consisting of allocations of EUR 30 billion, EUR 34 billion and EUR 36 billion respectively.6 Further, the draft finance bill for 2021 (projet de loi de finances 2021) (hereafter PLF 2021), presented by the Ministry of Economy, finance and relaunch on 28 September 2020, provides for a budgetary allocation of EUR 36.4 billion as commitment authorisations and EUR 22 billion as payment credits, of a total budget of EUR 152.8 billion for 2021, towards the financing requirements of the measures of the Relaunch plan during 2021.
The authors briefly present some of the primary measures of the Relaunch plan pertaining to providing an impetus to the competitiveness of businesses and industries in France thereby increasing the overall attractiveness of the country as a global business destination (I) and measures relating to the safeguarding of employment in France to ensure social cohesion (II).