The French economy is underperforming. Over the last twenty years, its level of growth has been consistently below the EU average. In cumulative terms, the EU grew by 27 percent between 2005 and 2024, whereas France stood at 23 percent. Only Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Finland fared worse.

These figures stand in sharp contrast with the expectations raised by the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017. The Economist marked this event by claiming that “corporate Europe is giddy with optimism.” The magazine’s cover depicted the newly elected French president, who had held the position of finance minister from 2014 to 2016, as a man walking on water who was carrying the hopes of “France, Europe and centrists everywhere” on his shoulders.

While his neoliberal program was hardly original, Macron’s victory still represented a powerful signal: The supposed French anti-business exception would come to a definitive end and provide momentum to centrist policies that had come under strain elsewhere since the global financial crisis. This narrative could not be further from the truth: Under Macron’s presidency, French corporate welfare reached new heights while the country became increasingly authoritarian.