PresidentPresident Francois Hollande on Tuesday offered French companies what he called “a responsibility pact” to tackle unemployment under which they would reap the benefit of lower labour taxes in return for hiring more workers, reports euronews.
“It is based on a simple principle: lower labour charges and fewer restrictions on their activity in return for more hires and more dialogue with trade unions,” Hollande said in a New Year’s address broadcast on national television.
Hollande did not specify how he would go about reducing labour charges but it is a possibility that has been mooted under a wide-ranging reform of taxes already promised by his Socialist government for implementation during the remainder of his mandate through to 2017.
French corporate margins are among the lowest in Europe, partly due to the high labour charges needed to fund its generous welfare state.
Read more of this Reuters report published by euronews.
