Comments on: No longer reaching for the moon, just mooning

by: Tim

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:24:55 +0000

All three questions will probably answered later this week, when I get back from a seminar organised by the Aspen Insititute about how France is to re-invent herself. The list of people invited includes several CEO’s of companies both large and small, and I guess we will be talking about exactly that. If you are referring to the blog on flexisecurité, then I think many employers see it as a step forward - that part after all is relevant to them while the securité part is relevant mostly to the unemployed. Anything which gives them greater freedom to separate themselves from someone who turns out to have been a bad choice must help. But I also guess that there is disappointment because Sarkozy’s election promise to make things simpler (e.g. a single employment contract to replace the plethora of contracts and rules) has not been respected, instead he is adding more layers of confusion - as with the 35 hour week and over-time payments, the muddy field simply gets muddier. But then many CEO’s realise that national governments are only one factor in the equation, and no President can do much about the wider economic situation - especially if he is president of a country in the euro area, where the situation of other “partners” such as Germany have to be taken into account by the Central Bank

by: Peter Sibley

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:32:59 +0000

I’m interested in how you think French companies could take matters into their own hands…..
and I’m also interested in what French company chiefs think about Sarkozy’s new engagement
with business…have any CEOs raised their heads above the parapet yet to express their views?

by: Mark Powell

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:46:23 +0000

In reply to the grown-up and serious seeming Francois Fillon, my feeling is that it will all end with his resigning in frustration with Sarkozy’s lack of seriousness before the end of the year.
Like almost all French politicians, Sarko is all talk and no trousers, style and no substance. He is turning out to be another Chirac: achieving his adolescent dream of becoming president and then not knowing what to do with his office, except enjoy its trappings. The French ruling class continues to let down the people by failing to tell the truth and pushing through difficult reforms.
France’s only hope is that French companies will take matters into their own hands, as the did in Germany.