French press review 31 January 2018

The French economy is growing at its fastest rate in six years but that good news is drawing attention to structural problems for local industry. There's a growing divide between parents and schoolteachers. And could Germany be on the brink of launching the 28-hour working week?

Finally some good news. And, for once, there doesn't appear to be a smart-ass sting in the tail.

Le Monde's main headline says the French economy is growing at the fastest rate in six years.

Last year growth averaged out at nearly two percent, almost twice the 2016 rate.

Investment is up, both by businesses and households, even if overall consumption is slightly down on 2016, the French now putting their spare cash into major expenditure, buying cars and houses.

If there is a dark side to this story, says Le Monde, then it's the fact that French industry is struggling to meet the increasing demand. This is because of outdated equipment and a lack of skilled workers.

Neighbouring countries are profiting from the slow French reaction. And, warns the National Economic Research Institute, there's going to have to be a series of wage increases to attract the necessary labour power.

Maybe there's a bit of a sting in the tail after all.

Tensions between teachers and parents

They're not in such cheerful form over at right-wing Le Figaro.

There the headline story asks how to reconcile the nation's parents and teachers. This is because a report submitted yesterday to the education minister says that the gap between schools and families is ever-widening.

The problem is that the teachers think the parents are too closely involved in the business of educating their children; the parents think the teachers are distant or defensive.

And with time on both sides of the divide at a premium, no dedicated meeting ground, and a widening sociological gap between the teachers and the least well-off families, the problems won't simply go away.

Not bad, but must do better

Worse, the right-wing paper's editorial casts doubt on the reality of the economic growth celebrated by Le Monde.

The 1.9 percent is real enough, says Le Figaro, but that leaves France trailing at the back of the European squad. And the unemployment and debt situations make the French tragic continental champions, it claims.

The hardest part still has to be done, says the conservative daily. Public expenditure must be brought down from its current levels.

Much remains to be achieved but the government should be encouraged by the progress already made, especially in forcing through much-needed changes to labour law, the paper says. Now is not the time for weakness, says Le Figaro.

Anyone for a 28-hour working week?

Over at left-leaning Libération they look at the new German economic model, which could soon be based on a working week of 28 hours. You can bet they won't like the sound of that at Le Figaro.

Since the German economy is doing so well, the main engineering workers' union, the largest labour organisation in Europe, says it's time to cut the time spent working. And they're organising a nationwide strike this very day to make the point. They also want a six percent wages hike.

Where's that going to leave the French bosses, who never miss a chance to praise the way the Germans run their shop, and never stop complaining about the ravages allegedly caused by the French 35-hour week?

The bosses have got the wrong dog by the ear anyway, according to the sociologist Jean-Yves Boulin. Far from a bunch of lazy gits, the French are among Europe's hardest workers, he tells Libé. The Dutch, the Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Irish, Italians and Germans all work less than the French.

Libération shows great journalistic honesty in adding a note to that claim by its invited expert, pointing out that the statistics of the European Labour Agency do not support the view of Jean-Yves Boulin that only the Greeks and Spaniards work harder than the readers of Libération. But an even more sacred journalistic maxim says you should never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Just add in a footnote and get on with it.