France’s Plan To Rise Again

“Old Europe” is going all-out to rise again as the new power, escaping the long stagnation that has hovered over the region.

Six months ago from this Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy took office with a strong will to reform the nation and boost national competitiveness.

Coincidentally, the nation has been engulfed in a massive strike that began on Tuesday by the employees of French national railway SNCF and Paris subway company RATP, who are vehemently opposed to Sarkozy’s reform plans.

The development of this incident will show the world whether France will be able to successfully join the United Kingdom and Germany in efforts to make its labor market more flexible and market-oriented.

In 1995, former President Jacque Chirac also attempted to put an end to the expansion of welfare and the nationalization movement following his predecessor Francois Mitterrand. However, he surrendered to a three-week-long protest by labor unions in his first year of office. He subsequently lost his will for reform and the next 12 years saw no change in France.

Things are completely different now. In university campuses, walls are plastered with “Stop the Strike” posters made by UNI, a student organization against strikes. “Let’s stop the strike” stickers can also be spotted in many parts of the country.

If France successfully embarks on the road to reform, overcoming the current crisis, France will become the third nation, after the U.K. and Germany, to lead the revival of Europe. The U.K., once humiliatingly dubbed as “the sick man of Europe,” is now enjoying its longest-ever period of economic boom, which began 14 years ago. Its per capita GDP is now well above that of Germany and France.

As for Germany, which was once frowned upon as “the patient of Europe,” or “the culprit” that threatened the stability of the European economy, has begun picking up the pieces with “Agenda 2010” as its first move. “Agenda 2010” is a series of reform measures established in 2003 by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder during his term. By taking a bold neo-liberalist approach and drastically cutting welfare expenses, he provided business-friendly laws. As a result, Germany rose to become Europe’s strongest economic powerhouse and is expected to record a fiscal surplus for the first time in 40 years.

pisong@donga.com