Grand | The deindustrialization felt by the French is closely linked to the country’s deindustrialization, the secondary sector accounting for 80% of private sector research and development, 74% of exports, and thus well-paid skilled jobs.
Declining industrialization is one of the sharpest contemporary dramas in our country. In the third quarter of 2021, the industry weighed just 13.42% of GDP according to Industrie France, compared to 23% in 1980 and more than 30% in the 1950s. In Europe, it still weighs 16%, of which 22% is in Germany and 17% in Italy and 19% in Switzerland. In 50 years, this share has fallen by 50% in France, leading to a decline in industrial employment, from 5.3 million in 1980 to 3 million in 2020.
This tragedy has been suffered by many regions and citizens in their bodies. One immediately thinks of the Vosges textile crisis, the closing of the mines and the blast furnaces in Lorraine. But we think less about the significant weakness in the production of our cars, paradoxically contemporary with the emergence of large global groups that have become Renault and the PSA Group. Therefore, a unique tapestry of skills, export capabilities and wealth creation center has collapsed, a phenomenon revealed by the recent health crisis.
However, aside from spells and grip effects, recrafting is really possible, but it will not go through benefits from bad checks, but through powerful actions in three directions: forced charges, energy and research.
Let our companies fight on equal terms in Europe for the transfer of wealth creation in our lands and the increase in purchasing power
According to a 2019 study by KPMG, an SME that generates €34 million in sales shows a net result (any After taxes) depending on where it is located 5 million euros in the Netherlands, 4.4 million euros in Germany, 3 million euros in Italy … 1 million euros in France. In terms of assets, out of the 100 euros spent by the employer, only 47 euros remain in the pocket of the French employee compared to 60 euros on average within the European Union (EU) and 70 euros in Switzerland, which is nevertheless plagued by poverty and inequality until now. under ours.
On the basis of the targeted reform of public work allowing to reduce spending by 10%, i.e. approximately 150 billion euros in 2021, it is possible:
- Reduction of fees imposed on companies by 34 billion euros, in particular VSEs, SMEs and ETIs that employ 70% of the staff in our territory;
- Allocating 17 billion euros for the purchasing power of the French, i.e. increasing the net salary by 100 euros per month up to 1500 euros and by 1000 euros annually up to 2500 euros.
But allowing our companies to fight on equal terms in Europe is not limited to bringing the level of compulsory fees into line with the average in force on the continent. It also consists in systematically pruning normative rules, in particular by removing all instances of excessive transmission of European directives and regulations (such as neonicotinoids) to return to the minimum requirements of the Union.
Restore our energy sovereignty
French industrial companies also suffer from high energy prices. After a very difficult year, INSEE expects another 84% increase in electricity prices in 2023.
In this context, it has become urgent to restore our energy sovereignty:
- By leaving the Regulated Access to Historic Nuclear Electricity (ARENH) obligating EDF to sell almost a quarter of its nuclear production to middlemen at the cost of production (42 euros per MWh) to artificially free up the electricity market on the backs of companies and consumers who suffer or will suffer from “European market” prices, more than 400 euros per MWh today;
- By building 15 new EPRs in the medium term in order to revive the sector and ensure our energy sovereignty and a significant reduction in our CO2 emissions, knowing that maintaining a 40 GW fleet (today installed capacity is more than 60 GW) will require 29 continuous technology EPRs .
Make France a beacon of technological progress once again
The most dynamic and prosperous countries in the long run (Germany, USA and South Korea for example) that allocate between 3.5% and 4.5% of their GDP to research compared to 2.2% in France, and should increase by no less than 25 billion euros (1 % of GDP) the means allocated to higher education, research, development and innovation to increase the salaries of teachers and researchers and to invest heavily in sectors of the future such as green technologies, artificial and digital intelligence.
By activating these three levers, it is possible to relaunch our industry, and, thus, to restore a little hope to France, poor in sub-provinces, and provinces, which keeps the country going, but which is no longer hopeless in despair. …
By Patrice Houbin, President of the Movement for French Ambitions
