France urged to reinvigorate its industrial sector

National auditor blames 'structural failings', 'declining' school system, culture ministry

France is on a downward spiral with education, culture and its global power and influence all waning in recent years, according to the nation's official auditor.

In a damning report released this week, the Cour des Comptes, which oversees use of public fund in France, said the country has been tumbling, increasingly quickly, down global rankings of industrialized nations during the past 15 years.

The auditor said some of the country's international rivals have also hit hard times recently, but France has "been exposed to a greater deindustrialization trend than its main partners".

The Cour des Comptes based its conclusions on figures gathered and released by the World Bank, which has measured manufacturing added-value as a percentage of GDP annually between 2004 and 2019.

The United Kingdom's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which was a strong supporter of Britain leaving the European Union and occasionally seen as critical of France, reported that the Cour des Comptes had described the country as having "structural failings", a "declining" school system, and a culture ministry that is both out-of-date and expensive.

The Daily Telegraph also reported that the indictment has come at a difficult time for President Emmanuel Macron, who is up for reelection in four months.

France Inter radio quoted Pierre Moscovici, president of the Cour des Comptes and main author of the report, as saying that France urgently needs to update its industrial policy to arrest the decline.

"Today, industry represents 11 percent of GDP," Moscovici said. "We have lost ground compared to European partners, including Germany and even northern Italy."

Moscovici said in a warning to Macron, who is standing against far-right candidate Eric Zemmour in the presidential election, that a nation that is declining industrially "loses standing" internationally, which leads "working classes toward populism, notably the far-right".

The Cour des Comptes report stated that France can boost its industrial sector by making tax cuts, and investing heavily in research and the green and digital economies.

Massive state spending

The report added that whoever leads France during the next presidential term will have to deal with fallout from massive state spending exacerbated by the novel coronavirus pandemic, which means the state spends 59 percent of GDP, the largest proportion among EU nations.

The auditor report was especially critical of France's culture ministry, which it said has transitioned into a glorified "ticket office" and hub for the redistribution of state funds during the past 40 years.

It also said France's system of directing unemployment benefits toward people in the creative sector has created massive problems and is in need of "major reform".

Moscovici has led the Cour des Comptes since June and was France's finance minister under former president Francois Hollande from May 2012 to April 2014.