Europe | Cross-Rhine rivals

Why German bosses are heaping unexpected praise on France

It is not how things used to be

Olaf Scholz, Germany’s Chancellor looks at Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, during a joint cabinet meeting in Paris, France.
Healthy competitionPhotograph: Getty Images
|BERLIN AND PARIS

A DECADE AGO French business leaders tended to gaze across the Rhine with envious eyes. The German economic model, with its strong exports, conciliatory workforce, low unemployment and productive industry, was a source of widespread admiration. French publishers put out books with such titles as “Should we follow the German model?” Newspaper headlines asked “But how do the Germans do it?” French business chiefs and policymakers alike lamented their country’s inability to emulate their bigger European neighbour.

Chart: The Economist

Explore more

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Rivals on the Rhine"

Climate report: Some progress, must try harder

From the November 25th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Europe

The EU’s best-laid plans for expansion are clashing with reality

For now “phoney enlargement” is the order of the day

Turkish women should soon be allowed keep their maiden names

But the law is still fuzzy


Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-year term ends on May 20th

But he has no plans to step down or call an election during wartime