The U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statements provide information on the business climates of more than 170 economies and are prepared by economic officers stationed in embassies and posts around the world. They analyze a variety of economies that are or could be markets for U.S. businesses.
Topics include Openness to Investment, Legal and Regulatory systems, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property Rights, Transparency, Performance Requirements, State-Owned Enterprises, Responsible Business Conduct, and Corruption.
These statements highlight persistent barriers to further U.S. investment. Addressing these barriers would expand high-quality, private sector-led investment in infrastructure, further women’s economic empowerment, and facilitate a healthy business environment for the digital economy. To access the ICS, visit the U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statement website.
ICS Executive Summary
France enthusiastically welcomes foreign investment and has a stable business climate that attracts investors from around the world. The French government devotes significant resources to attracting investment through policy incentives, marketing, overseas trade promotion offices, and investor support mechanisms. France has an educated population, first-rate universities, and a talented workforce, although recent investor surveys have highlighted a shortage of high-skilled workers and technicians in emerging technologies, as well as English skills that lag compared to other European countries. France has a modern business culture, sophisticated financial markets, a strong intellectual property rights regime, and an innovative commercial sector. The country is known for its world-class infrastructure, including high-speed passenger rail, many maritime ports, extensive roadway networks, a dense network of public transportation, and efficient intermodal connections. High-speed (3G/4G) telephony is nearly ubiquitous, and 5G is now available in large and many mid-sized metropolitan cities. Other draws for France include high quality and affordable healthcare and schooling.
During 2023, the government continued to actively court investments from the United States financial sector. Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire devoted his December 2023 trip to New York to attracting major global finance firms to Paris, after he previously courted Wall Street banks during a New York visit in 2021. France is also interested in becoming a high-tech hub, in fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The government has welcomed major American investments and partnerships in artificial intelligence.
According to Business France, the French government’s business promotion agency, foreign investors concluded 1,815 transactions in France in 2023, resulting in 59,254 jobs being created or maintained. The United States was the leading foreign investor in France with investment in 305 new projects creating or sustaining 17,000 jobs. U.S. companies based in France continue to view France favorably despite a challenging overall global economic environment. Many of France’s historical challenges for foreign investors, such as overall labor costs and labor protections, social legislation, the social climate (strikes and protests), high tax burden, and the complexity of administrative procedures persist, but France’s capacity for innovation and research, recent pro-business regulations, including fiscal stability and decreasing tax rates since 2017, and the government’s ecological transition efforts—such as the green industry tax credit passed in 2023—are significant draws.
Energy price and supply in France became a key concern of investors due to a spike in energy costs in 2022 following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine; however, France fared better than other European countries on this issue due to the government’s generous energy “price shield.” Energy prices in France also decreased and stabilized in 2023, including via an increase in nuclear energy production. France is now appreciated by investors as a source of relatively low-cost and decarbonized electricity in Europe.
France is among the least restrictive countries for foreign investment. There are no statutory limits on foreign ownership of companies, excluding those in certain specified sectors. Any acquisition of a domiciled company or subsidiary operating in sectors deemed critical to France’s national interests relating to public order, public security, and national defense, or conducting R&D on critical or dual-use technology for application in those sectors, is subject to prior notification, review, and approval by the Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.
Since French President Emmanuel Macron’s first election in 2017, the government has pursued a business-friendly agenda making the labor market more flexible, cutting corporate tax rates from 33.3 percent to 25 percent in 2022, and cutting in half the contribution on added value (CVAE) tax (though delaying its abolishment from 2024, as initially planned, until 2027). However, investors are concerned by France’s perceived continued over-application of EU regulations, requiring certain companies to adhere to one set of standards for France and another for export to the rest of the EU; growing debt burden, which could lead the government to raise taxes or abandon announced tax cuts in the future, despite commitments not to do so at present; and promotion of French and EU “sovereignty” as a source of potential discrimination against non-EU investors and companies, even as it also spurs policies that incentivize investment in French industry (like the France 2030 plan).
Moreover, President Macron’s agenda has faced significant obstacles, including ongoing political gridlock due to the failure of his political party to gain an absolute majority in the June 2022 National Assembly elections, as well as widespread protests and periodic strikes in critical sectors, notably during the first half of 2023 in opposition to the government’s pension reforms that raised the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. The government subsequently faced disruptive urban riots in summer 2023 and farmer mobilization with tractor roadblocks in early 2024. The more recent unrest follows the 2018 and 2019 “Yellow Vest” protests economic inequality. Other challenges include the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn in 2020, and the economic fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including the 2022 energy crisis and high inflation in 2022 and 2023.
Despite these challenges, the Macron administration has implemented new economic policies and financing to support business growth and innovation, and it has committed to continuing these efforts. The 2019 “PACTE” law on business growth and transformation, the “France Relaunch” COVID-19 recovery program, the France 2030 investment plan, and the Green Industry law have all sought to simplify corporate formation and encourage investment in underdeveloped sectors. These programs also focus on France’s green transition and support the transformation of France’s automotive, aerospace, digital, green industry, biotechnology, culture, health, and advanced technology sectors. Investments under the France 2030 plan for industrial competitiveness and the technologies of the future are available through 2026. The government has promised new laws in 2024 to significantly simplify business regulations and procedures, including to strengthen the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors. It also continues to reiterate its commitment to decrease taxes. Moreover, the government hopes the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will further “springboard” the investment attractiveness of the Paris region and France as a whole.