PESTLE Analysis of France: A Look into the French Politics and Economy

France is known for its exquisite fashion and wines. It’s where people (who live overseas) wish to fall in love. And although the country boasts an impressive economy, structures, and inventions, the land isn’t as lovely for all citizens. See how the six macro-influences affect the French Republic in this PESTLE analysis of France. You might want to check out what PESTLE analysis stands for first, though!

Political and Legal factors: A tight grip on political affairs

Politics in France have notoriously been problematic. The French Revolution occurred because of the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The commoners rose up to hang countless royal blooded people. Because of this occurrence, the French government has kept a tight leash on administrative control years later.

Although some politicians have voiced discomfort with hiding away while their people protest against rights and unemployment rates, it still happened with the President of the Fifth Republic, Francois Hollande.

The French want to accept new political and economic reforms, but can’t get past their once glorious past. To make it worse, this prideful nation isn’t in full control of terms in their continent. Capitalism hasn’t strengthened France; in fact, similarly to the rich and poor collision during the French Revolution, the leftests and rightests are just as separated by a growing gap.

France has focused on creating action plans, such as the road safety action plan. It activated in 2015 and features twenty-six new laws and measures to keep drivers and pedestrians safe. This means you can’t eat use headsets or apply makeup while driving.

2015 was also a troubling time because of the Paris terrorist attacks.

Since this tragedy, the French government offers extra measures to protect citizens against terrorism. This includes the discussion of taking away the French nationality of any convicted terrorists who are also French-born dual citizens. Although the bill first arrived on the scene back in February 2016, the at-the-time French President Francois Hollande decided to toss this bill. This didn’t go over well with the republic and his popularity as a president dropped by 15 percent.

Economic factors: Four types of intense taxes weigh heavy on the French citizens

Next up in the PESTEL framework is the economy. During the world recession, France was expected to fall towards bankruptcy like all the other European countries. And yet, thanks to strong Governmental invention within the financial and banking sectors, this didn’t happen. The French economy didn’t suffer nearly as much because of this intervention, however, it still suffered from deficits caused by years of Raymond Barres’ rule.

In fact, France suffered two recessions in the span of four years. In the first quarter of 2013, the French economy shrank by 0.2 percent.

Even now, French citizens suffer under heavy taxes. In fact, the country had four different types of taxes: the standard rate for goods and services, transport services, medical prescription, and renovation work.

The business community suffers more than any other because the tax rate is roughly 40 percent. Since heavy taxes make it difficult to employ workers in their home country, many businesses feel compelled to hire outside of it. It’s the only way to maintain some semblance of competition against foreign businesses.

Tax payments went straight to state expenses like development projects. Because of this high tax rate, France has a matching high unemployment level. It used to be just under 28 percent for men, and under 24 percent for women aged 25 and younger. Those who have a job earn roughly 18,000 euros per year at a minimum wage.

It’s not all bad, though. The French maintain strong markets in the agricultural, manufacturing machinery, and electronics industries. Their cosmetics are favored around the world. The country also has many supermarkets sprinkled worldwide as well. The problems with the economy seem to affect the middle to lower class who face problems with taxation and governmental influence, which brings us to the social factors when doing a PEST analysis.

Social factors: Increasing crime rates and protests

The economy affects the social class in France. With such a disparity between classes, the youth crime rate has risen over the years. Workers are often on strike for one reasoning or another, reducing the income and productivity of those affected.

There’s also an issue with the treatment of immigrants. More than half of the French population are Roman Catholic and many aren’t fond of immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants. The country has witnessed racial violence and voiced their complaints by demolishing graves and graffitied buildings.

The public is also quite health-conscious. Many people use bikes as their main source of transportation. They also buy fitness equipment to maintain their bodies. Although there’s still an issue of smoking among the population, many are switching to the electronic version. And they must be doing something right since the approximate life expectancy for citizens is roughly eighty-one years.

Technological factors: The land of inventions we couldn’t live without today

You wouldn’t expect France to be the leader in nuclear technology export, would you? You’d reserve that expectation for Russia. And yet, many of these products were invented in France. Like the generator, fridge, and camera. The country puts a ton of resources into the research and development of products. Back in 1995, 25 percent of the GDP went to research. Three years later, the high-tech exports had an evaluation of over $54 billion.

Now, the government puts more research into health. That is, providing and managing quality health care for the French public. This doesn’t include the funding for scientific research, provided by the French National Research Agency. The funding is allocated to universities, research organizations, and private companies.

The Frenchy rely heavily on the internet. A high-speed connection called ADSL is most commonly provided by companies. And if you don’t want that, you can pop into any internet cafe found among the public streets of France. Although, as of 2016, it’d cost you anywhere from one to five euros and up to use the internet on an hourly basis.

Environmental/ecological factors: Water quality issues

France may suffer from water pollution sooner than in other countries. The country has faced water contamination caused by acid rain. Not only did it impact water quality, but it also destroyed forests too.

One-third of the land is forest, which means the country focuses on protecting the land and the species. Unfortunately, the flora is most at risk. Luckily, the government makes the forestry a prime focus and have created designated nitrate zones, allowing for increased agricultural developments.

Unfortunately, France is also one of the most notorious locations for industrial carbon dioxide. This is something the country has to focus more on, as the millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide seeping from the country affect the world’s environment as a whole.

PESTLE analysis of France: Conclusion

Now that this PESTLE analysis of France is concluded as yet another example of PESTLE analysis, the French are proud people who are also crumbling under expensive taxes, racial violence, and increased youth crime rates. Many have little faith in the government after the rule of Francois Hollande, where he promised stricter guidelines after the Paris terrorist attacks, but failed to deliver. Some of this lack of faith in the government still stems from the French Revolution. Hopefully, though, the tides will shift in the coming years.

Photo by Willian West on Unsplash