France: soft crisis, hard recovery – eroding influence in Europe?

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine why the French economy, having done quite well during the period of global financial crisis, has been unable to head off to the path of sound economic growth again, while at the same time the German economy, by European standards, has been flourishing. Is it related to the specificities of French capitalism (centralisation, rigidities, delays in structural reforms, etc.) or some EU policies (pre-eminently the monetary one) are to blame? A thorough examination of this issue is of the utmost importance considering that a permanent shift in the balance of power between France and Germany might prove detrimental to the European integration process at large.

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