With a few days to go until the French presidential election, in which France's place within the EU features clearly, the French association of private companies (AFEP) warns against the temptation of looking inwards.
"There can be no alternative plan for ensuring economic prosperity and peace between people", AFEP states in its early April position paper, "L'Europe, notre avenir" ("Europe, our future"). As the fifth biggest economic power in the world, and soon the only EU member of the UN Security Council once the UK has left the European Union, "France counts in the concert of Nations, but it is in Europe that it finds the best vector for exerting its influence", the position paper adds.
AFEP identifies the negative effects of France leaving the single currency – a position which is nevertheless advocated by several candidates in the French presidential election on the far left or far right of the political spectrum. Leaving the euro would result in the immediate and, "doubtless considerable, depreciation of the new currency compared with the single currency". With the likely reintroduction of capital control, savers would suffer a "forced loss of purchasing power", while "the debt of households, companies and public administrations would suffer severely from the change of monetary regime", AFEP warns.
To resolve France's problems, French private companies advocate deep reforms, including "the lowering of public spending" to cut the deficit and taxes, and "reform of the labour market and education system". Europe, which ensures access to a big market but faces many challenges, must also continue to "protect its economy from unfair competition". (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)