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Forces of change in a conservative society
 The polished bald head of French goal-keeper Fabien Barthez has become a publicity icon after the national team triumphed in the World Cup football. Among the most popular stunts has been to perch a McDonald's hamburger on his pate. In a curious contrast, another new national icon is Jose Bové, a militant farmer who made his name last year heading the demolition of a McDonald's fast food restaurant ...more
ECONOMY:
The strategy bears fruit
Investment in industry should increase 12 per cent this year, according to the latest bullish assessment of industrial trends. Conducted by Insee, the officials statistics institute, the April survey shows a sharp 3 per cent improvement on the expectations of industrialists at the beginning of the year ...more
EMPLOYMENT:
Jobs materialise at a healthy rate
Unemployment is set to fall to below 9 per cent by the end of next year if current trends are sustained. This compares with a record 12.5 per cent of the workforce jobless when the government of Lionel Jospin took office in 1997 ...more
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:
Progress is impressive
French corporate governance has moved a long way towards meeting the expectations of US and UK institutional investors since the country's first recommendations - the so-called Viénot report - were published in 1995 ...more
THE REGIONS:
Local voices emerge
Despite being the only fully centralised state in the European Union, since the UK devolved powers to Scottish and Welsh assemblies, the French political establishment has yet to make institutional changes. Nevertheless, attention is turning to the growing economic and cultural importance of the regions vis-a-vis the capital ...more
E-COMMERCE:
Late start could be blessing in disguise
For the past two years, France has been surfing on the internet wave.But like its continental European neighbours, the country is running about a year behind the US internet revolution - a situation that is, paradoxically, proving to be a mixed blessing ...more
TELECOMMUNICATIONS:
State faces a telephonic tug of war
One recurrent dilemma for Lionel Jospin's government in its first three years has been how much power the state should concede to the market.Pulling the administration in one direction have been the communists, on whom the prime minister depends for his parliamentary majority ...more
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