French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled measures to spur a reversal of the country’s industrial decline as he seeks to respond to massive US aid for its green sectors and rebuild his political fortunes at home.
Pledges include an expanded use of tax credits for investment, streamlining procedures to open new factories, and boosting financing in education and training. He also said the government will change bonuses for electric vehicles to exclude those produced with a large carbon footprint, a measure that would support European production.
“The battle for re-industrialization is key on an economic level, it is key on a geopolitical level, and it is key on a political level for the unity of the nation,” Macron told business leaders and lawmakers gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday. “We must accelerate and go much further.”
