France

WHAT'S NEXT?: Discontent with political elites and country performance is driving the discourse and demand for action from the French public. With Presidential elections due in May 2017 it remains to be seen whether another political earthquake may happen in one of the EU's founding countries.

• [New] By 2050, demographic change would damp average per capita income in France, Spain, Italy and Germany by € 4,759-€ 6,548 at 2010 prices.
• [New] France plans to ban the sale of fossil fuel-powered cars by 2040 and Norway's Parliament has set a non-binding goal that by 2025 all cars should be zero emissions.
• France agreed to delay the digital tax until the end of the year, and the U.S. will not impose more tariffs.
• Chile has announced additional green issuance in 2020, France and Netherlands are expected to issue again and inaugural sovereign issuance has been foreshadowed from Egypt, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Sweden and Spain, among others.
• The US and UK are likely to remain the leading exporters of services, although China is expected to overtake France in fourth place during the year.
• Within two years, Britain aims to become the largest G-7 investor in Africa - a feat that will require a 75 percent increase in capital invested to top the United States and a more than 90 percent increase to top France.
• The U.S. has threatened to impose tariffs on US$ 2.4 billion of French goods over a digital services tax it says unfairly targets U.S. companies.
• France's central bank will next year launch a call for projects to develop a digital currency, as concern grows among EU governments over new currencies planned by Facebook and others.
• Over the next two decades, Germany, France, and Italy are all forecast to reach the point at which a quarter of their populations will reach 65 years of age.
• 2019 was the year when India overtook the UK and France to become the fifth largest economy in the world.
• 40% of corporate debt totalling at least $19 trillion in major economies such as the U.S., China, Japan, Germany, U.K., France, Italy, and Spain is at risk of default if a global economic downturn happens.
• Additional key drivers in the advertising industry are the India and Brazil and, while Germany will remain the fifth largest market by 2024, France is set to be overtaken by India and Brazil.
• Many countries have set goals to ban the sales of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles in the future, notably; Norway by 2025, Denmark by 2030, China by 2030, India by 2030, Germany by 2030, France by 2040, and Britain by 2040 or 2050.
• European production will fall by 3.5% this year due to lower output at Nyrstar's plants in France and the Netherlands, while the permanent closure of the 100,000-tonne per year Vladikavkaz smelter in Russia has blown a lasting hole in regional capacity.
• Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK combined will account for nearly two-thirds of all new grocery sales generated [in Europe] between 2019 and 2024.
• The FAO Sugar Price Index rose by 1.8 percent from October, buoyed by mounting indications that world sugar consumption in the coming year will surpass production - which is being hampered by less-than-ideal growing conditions in Thailand, India, France and the United States of America.
• By 2021 roughly 93% of UK internet users are expected to do online shopping, the highest online shopping penetration rate in Europe, with Germany, France, Spain, and Italy closely following suit.
• France would not follow the United States and exclude Huawei from its next-generation 5G network, even though France would have the power to vet all equipment makers for any potential security threat.
• Even France, a nuclear power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is not reaching the NATO goal, projected by NATO to spend 1.84 percent of gross domestic product on defense this year.
• In the Paris region, Renault will explore the implementation of an autonomous mobility service between Roissy - Charles de Gaulle Airport and La Défense business district.
• Approximately 44 percent of the electricity customers in EU28+ 2 had a smart meter at the end of 2018 and the penetration rate is expected to reach 71 percent by 2023.
• The fiscal relief has helped sustain French growth, expected to reach 1.4 percent this year even as EU economic powerhouse Germany risks falling into recession.

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Last updated: 12 February 2020