Abruptly and without any warning, the Élysée decided that it was not renewing Isabelle de Silva's contract as the president of France's competition authority the Autorité de la Concurrence from October 13th. The decision, which has reportedly surprised and dismayed government ministers as well as many observers, was taken so late that a successor has not yet been lined up. The main theory to explain Emmanuel Macron's shock move is that the highly-respected De Silva was seen as an obstacle to the proposed merger between two private French TV companies, TF1 and the smaller M6, a tie-up that the Élysée favours. More generally, the independent Autorité de la Concurrence is also seen as a block to Emmanuel Macron's aim of creating large-scale national business champions. Martine Orange reports.
French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has announced an end to across-the-board financial support to businesses to help them survive the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting restrictions, detailing that future aid will only be made available on a case-by-case basis.
President Emmanuel Macron is said to have taken a “gamble” over health restrictions by not locking down France for the third time when the number of Covid-19 cases started rising once more in January. But the head of state has also gambled on the economy too. The French government thought that it could moderate the impact of the epidemic on economic activity through more limited but longer term restrictions. But as Romaric Godin reports, the French “economic resistance” proclaimed by the government could well turn out to be a painful illusion for the country and its public.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday said emergency government aid for the country's carmakers, an industry severely hit by the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, is conditional to them bringing certain manufacturing activity home to France from abroad.
The hitherto state-run French lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) will begin opening up its capital to private investors as of November 7th, French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has announced, amid expectations that the sales of shares will raise around 1 billion euros.
French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has said France will seek to prevent Facebook's digital currency Libra from rolling out in Europe, arguing that it represents 'risks of abuse of dominant position, risks to sovereignty and risks for consumers and for companies'.
