SGI 2016 | France | Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Recent Governments Experts

SGI experts on France

Emiliano Grossman

Emiliano Grossman is Full Professor of politics at Sciences Po and co-editor of the “European Journal of Political Research”.

Emiliano Grossman was born in Buenos Aires and grew up in Germany. He holds degrees from Sciences Po and the University of Cambridge. He has been a senior research fellow at Sciences Po since 2003, working now at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE). He is the co-convenor of the Master’s Programme in European Affairs. He teaches courses on EU politics, interest-group politics and comparative politics at Sciences Po.

His research concentrates on economic and financial regulation in the EU and political institutions. He has more generally focused on the variety of state-society relations in the EU and the challenges they are facing. At the same time, he has worked on the political systems of EU member states and the effects of the EU on politics, policy-making and political institutions in France. He recently co-edited a special issue for the 50iest anniversary of the French 5th Republic.

Nicolas Sauger

Nicolas Sauger is Professor of political science at Sciences Po (Paris, France) as well as the Director of the French national infrastructure for quantitative social sciences data Progedo. He has done research on political institutions, elections and electoral behaviour. He is also a specialist in survey methods. He is currently a member of the Methods Advisory Board of the European social survey.

Henrik Uterwedde

Henrik Uterwedde is currently the deputy director of the Deutsch-Französisches Institut in Ludwigsburg, which he joined in 1974. He is also a honorary professor at Stuttgart University and an associate professor at Osnabrück University, both in comparative politics. His main publications focus on France (two monographs on French politics, economics and society), on economic models and policy in France and Germany as well as on Franco-German cooperation and European economic integration.

Reimut Zohlnhöfer (Coordinator)

Reimut Zohlnhöfer holds a chair of political science at Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg (Germany), where he is also the head of the political science department. He holds an MA from the University of Heidelberg, a PhD from the University of Bremen and a Habilitation from the University of Heidelberg. Previously, he worked at the Center for Social Policy Research of the University of Bremen, at the Center of European Studies at Harvard University and at the University of Bamberg. His research focuses on economic and social policies in developed democracies.

France is an average country in Europe with respect to its sustainable governance performance.

Solid democratic
institutions, but
rising tensions

Despite the continuing rise of the extreme-right party National Rally and continuous debates about the leadership style of President Emmanuel Macron, democratic institutions are solid and provide an effective context for discussion and the exercise of rights. This is complemented by a strong bureaucracy and a substantial devolution of power to local governments and regulatory agencies. Nonetheless, the overall climate is extremely pessimistic. All political actors play the game of ideological polarization rather than building well-articulated party organizations and policy programs. This makes coalition building extremely difficult. In the short term, the introduction of a minority government since 2022 has accentuated the tension between the overarching majority logic of the institutions and the limited room for maneuver of a government that has been largely unable to pass legislation by creating effective majorities.

Slow reform of
elite bureaucracy

The strong bureaucratic tradition provides for solid coordination at the government level, but at the expense of the capacity to coordinate with other actors, be it local governments or civil society organizations. Critical of the “deep state” structuring government actions, President Macron has sought to reform the elitist school training of high-ranking civil servants. This has had modest effects other than the explicit and loud resistance from the elitist corps of civil servants (grands corps). The rapid digitalization of governmental processes and resources has not led to more effective government in many regards. Furthermore, the traditional political and bureaucratic practices have had difficulty adapting to more evidence-based approaches. Despite the creation of a new scientific advisory board under the president, scientific approaches to policy design and policy evaluation still do not play a central role in the country’s governance.

Low-carbon economy
due to nuclear focus

The government’s performance in shaping and promoting sustainable policies is average in most areas, falling at a level comparable with the performance of other large continental European nations. Recently, the overall agenda of the government has turned toward a more conservative policy style. The government performs best with regard to its capacity to deliver a low-carbon economy, thanks to intensive use of nuclear energy. This orientation has been reaffirmed in recent years, with the state turning away from the reduction in the use of nuclear energy planned in the previous decade. Meanwhile, renewable energies remain at the margins of the political agenda, especially since they are contested by the population, particularly with regard to wind turbines. What was once a key feature for France – its egalitarian ambition within the country and across the world – is now being increasingly neglected.

Huge deficits despite spending cuts

The key decisions of the past year include retrenchments in pensions and unemployment benefits in order to meet the welfare system’s growing financial deficits. Yet these cuts have not markedly changed the negative dynamics of the public deficit, which has been expanding steadily over the past 50 years. COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have provisionally suspended this burden on public finances, as the European rules on deficits were suspended. The return to normal leaves France in an in-between situation. Deficits are still huge, with no clear path toward their limitation despite the need for it. This more generally reflects the government’s difficulties engaging in long-range planning. If plans are made, their overall consistency generally remains limited, and their effective implementation a matter of considerable uncertainty.