Speaking at the Viva Technology conference in Paris, Macron repeated he wanted to reform labor laws to give more decision-making powers to companies and lower corporate tax.
The state should act as an enabler — not a constraint — for innovators and entrepreneurs, he said.
The French president said he would limit the wealth tax to cover just property in order to help businesses, and would create a single levy of 30 percent on capital income so as not to scare businesses away.
Facing competition from the likes of London and Berlin, Mr. Macron is eager to cement France’s rival claims to European tech leadership. And the 39-year-old French president — something of a start-up politician after putting together his République En Marche party only last year as part of his first run for office — could scarcely have had a more optimistic business audience or one more sympathetic to his core message of reviving and reforming France’s economy.
"I want France to be a nation that works with and for startups, and a nation that thinks and moves like a startup."
France President Emmanuel Macron
But there are evident criticisms of France’s strict labour laws, rigid administration and struggles so far to turn more than a handful of its start-ups into large, internationally competitive companies.
“It’s a country where entrepreneurs are encouraged,” says Karim Kaddoura, co-founder of Paris-based Virtuo Technologies, an online car rental service. “But the challenge for Macron will be to retain this talent and have talent coming from abroad.”
Thibault Chassagne, another Virtuo co-founder, adds: “There’s still an issue with labour laws here. And it’s so much harder to scale up companies in Europe than in the US. To scale you need more money and people willing to take risks.”
At VivaTech Mr Macron announced the launch of a French tech visa, a simplified, fast-track procedure for international tech founders, employees and investors to obtain a four-year work and residence permit.
President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech at Viva Technology conference in Paris. Photo: Internet
Mr. Macron’s party is expected to take an overwhelming share of seats in France’s national assembly, completing and cementing his electoral victory and giving him a platform for further business-friendly economic reforms.
Mr. Macron has even cheekily tried to play on many tech entrepreneurs’ environmental concerns. After US president Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal, Mr Macron launched a website to encourage anyone concerned about climate change to emigrate to France. “Make Our Planet Great Again,” the French president tweeted.
Another initiative launched during VivaTech shows France’s greater ambitions. ReviensLeon, which started in 2015 as a drive to lure French tech talent back home, has been widened to try to attract any global employees to Europe.
It reflects an increasing feeling in the French tech community that European countries must unite to compete against the US, playing on the benefits of common EU access. “We will go to the end of the European fight,” said Mr Macron said at VivaTech on Friday. “A French start-up must have access to a market of 27 countries.”
