NEWS COVERAGE - FRANCE

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK

May 29th, 2015
Business Sweden in Paris

FRANCE: THE FRENCH COURT OF AUDITORS CRITICIZES

BERCYS HANDLING OF THE PUBLIC DEFICIT
Bercy has announced that the public deficit increase
stabilized in 2014

Public expenses in 2014, in bn

Critics coming from the French court of auditors stress

the fact that the French public deficit increased by 10.7
bn in 2014, reaching a total of 85.6 bn
Tax revenues decreased by 10 bn, for the first time
since 2009

1,7
47,6

9,3
43,1
Investment

The number of Government employees only

decreased by 2,584 in 2014, compared to 7,200 in
2013, resulting in increasing payrolls by 0,4 %

Cost of debt
Public employment
Interventions
Operations

Auditors further criticized the carrying forward of some

expenses to 2015, which didnt have an impact on the
2014 public deficit

Other
66,2

120,8

SOURCE: 1
BUSINESS SWEDEN

29 MAY, 2015

FRANCE: LAURENT FABIUS IN THE SEARCH FOR

PRIVATE INVESTMENT TO FINANCE THE COP21 SUMMIT
The French Minister of Foreign affairs, Laurent Fabius, presented 20 companies that will sponsor and thus co-finance
COP21 summit, which is to be held in Paris later this year
Around 100 additional companies are interested in sponsoring the event, one of which is IKEA

Laurent Fabius goal with finding private sponsors is to finance 20 % of the costs from the private sector
Costs associated with the event, hosting 40,000 people for almost two weeks, will approximately amount to 170 m

Revenues associated to the COP21 summit are estimated to amount to 100 M

SOURCES: 2 & 3
BUSINESS SWEDEN

29 MAY, 2015

FRANCE: RUSSIA NO LONGER WANTS FRENCH MISTRAL

WARSHIPS TO BE DELIVERED
Russian authorities are no longer interested in the two Mistral helicopter carriers, which were originally to be delivered
by France late 2014, a contract valued at 1,12 bn
Due to the Ukrainian crisis, the delivery was stopped
Russian authorities made clear that the Russian army will start developing its own warships

French authorities have proposed to reimburse a sum of 785 M with the option of reselling the two ships to other
potential customers
Their Russian counterpart requires on the other hand a payment of at least 1.1 bn

Louis Gautier, head of the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security, is said to travel to Moscow in order to
discuss and resolve the deadlock between the two nations

SOURCES: 4
BUSINESS SWEDEN

29 MAY, 2015

FRANCE: LVMH GROUP ABOUT TO BUY THE FRENCH

NEWSPAPER LE PARISIEN
LVMH initiated negotiations on Tuesday with the French
newspaper Le Parisien to acquire its business
The luxury brands group, already controlling the
French business daily Les Echos, wants to further
strengthen its media portfolio

The transaction is said to be valued approximately to

50M, compared to 200 M, which was Le Parisiens old
bid price in 2010

The French newspaper industry, which is facing

declining profitability because of its slow transition to
digital, has continued its consolidation:
Altice Media Group, controlling Libration, LExpress,
lExpansion and 20 other titles
Xavier Niel, a telecoms billionaire, Matthieu Pigasse,
head of Lazard Frres in France, and Pierre Berg,
business partner of Yves St Laurent have invested in
Le Monde and Le Nouvel Observateur

Le Parisien suffered from negative profits from 2012

to 2014, but could potentially break even in 2015
A new strategy consists in closing a in house printing
house and investing in digital services

SOURCES: 5 & 6
BUSINESS SWEDEN

29 MAY, 2015

SOURCES
1. Les Echos 28/05/2015, La Cour des comptes dnonce les artifices de l'Etat sur les dpenses,
http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20150528/lec1_france/02192880745-la-cour-des-comptes-denonce-les-artifices-de-letat-sur-les-depenses-1123062.php
2. Les Echos 28/05/2015, Confrence climat: Fabius fait appel aux financements privs,
http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20150528/lec1_france/02193519989-conference-climat-fabius-fait-appel-aux-financements-prives-1123105.php
3. Usine Nouvelle 28/05/2015, Financement de la COP21 : Laurent Fabius rpond aux ONG,
http://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/financement-de-la-cop21-laurent-fabius-repond-aux-ong.N332066
4. Financial Times 26/05/2015, Russia no longer wants French-made Mistral helicopter carriers,
http://next.ft.com/41a2d91a-03ca-11e5-8585-00144feabdc0
5. Financial Times 26/05/2015, LVMH in talks to buy Le Parisien newspaper,
http://next.ft.com/52b2819e-03cd-11e5-8585-00144feabdc0#axzz3bEmos0pD
6. Le Monde 26/05/2015, LVMH va tenter le mariage du Parisien et des Echos
http://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2015/05/26/lvmh-negocie-le-rachat-du-parisien_4640889_3236.html

BUSINESS SWEDEN

29 MAY, 2015