Here are the main ones: The number of administrative formalities for the establishment of foreign companies has been reduced. The establishment of a tax credit program of 20 billion EUR competitiveness tax credit , the abolition of the solidarity tax and the creation of the research tax credit and incentives for young innovative companies. The project to create a new labour legislation reinforcing vocational training and adding more flexibility to the labour market.
France's finance bill including tax measures that reduce the corporate income tax rate. Competitive taxation of research and temporary exemption arrangements for innovative start-ups and new businesses. To see the list, click here. France is involved in 51 cases as Home State of claimant and in 1 cases as Respondent State. The formal investment regime remains among the least restrictive in the world.
Acquisition of Holdings Possible. Obligation to Declare All foreign investments must be declared to the French Central Bank for statistical reasons. The majority of foreign investments must also be declared to the Public Treasury, which can check whether or not prior authorisation is required. The prior authorisation of the Minister of Economy is required for any foreign investment in an activity involving "sensitive industries" e.
A Decree dated November 29, that became effective on January 1, has enlarged the list of sectors in which foreign investments must be subject to prior authorization to include aerospace, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, additive manufacturing, semi-conductors, hosting of sensitive data.
In particular, the law on the growth and transformation of businesses, known in France as the PACTE law, published in the Official Gazette on 23 May , reshaped and extended the French prior authorisation procedure, granting the Minister of the Economy the powers of injunction. In the context of the current COVID pandemic, the control of foreign investments is being enhanced.
New provisions have been adopted, resulting from a decree and order dated 22 July , include both permanent and temporary measures aimed at protecting the most sensitive French companies. Competent Organisation For the Declaration General Directorate of the Treasury of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery Requests For Specific Authorisations Some sectors are subject to procedures to obtain prior authorisation: gambling; private security; research and development activities on pathogenic or toxic agents; phone-tapping systems; information technologies; information systems security; goods and technologies with a dual use; means of cryptology in the digital economy; companies holding national defence secrets; the arms trade and companies, which have concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defence.
The Possibility of Buying Land and Industrial and Commercial Buildings Foreign-registered or foreign-controlled entities are free to carry out real estate investments in France. It is possible to buy freehold or leasehold, to build industrial and commercial premises or to buy through a real estate company.
Although it should very rarely apply to real estate investments in France, the Law on Growth and Transformation of Businesses PACTE of 23 May and the related decree of 31 December have strengthened and extended the procedure for prior authorisation of foreign investments in France IEF , to better protect strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence or robotics.
Risk of Expropriation An expropriation procedure entitles local or national public authorities to purchase assets for a planned transaction that is declared to be in the public interest. According to French law, foreign investors are entitled to adequate and promptly paid compensation if they are victims of expropriation.
Privileged Domains Job creation, regional development, the food industry domain, protection of the environment, aid for Research and Development, Competitiveness clusters.
Regions concerned by the European Regional Development Fund. Investment Opportunities The Key Sectors of the National Economy Aerospace, automobile, food industry, pharmaceuticals, luxury and fashion industry, micro electrotechnology, logistics, health equipment.
In both instances, the foreign investment could end up protecting jobs at home by strengthening the parent company. Overall, Lipsey argues it's not always or even often the case that an investment in production abroad "substitutes" for or displaces what would otherwise be production capacity at home.
Looking at exports alone, Lipsey notes that economists have found more evidence associating foreign investments with an increase in home country exports than a decrease.
Even in Europe -- where rising unemployment in proximity to an increase in foreign investment lead to suspicions that the two were related -- Lipsey notes that economists found foreign investment was more likely to boost rather than to reduce the host country's exports.
As for its effect on the foreign country, again, Lipsey finds little, if any, support for the anti-globalization gospel. For example, considering the charge that foreign investment leads to depressed wages and thus exploits "host country" workers, Lipsey finds that the opposite is true.
Lipsey notes that foreign firms tend to be in "higher wage sectors," generally hire "better educated and more qualified workers" than locally-owned firms, and "tend to be larger and more capital intensive. Lipsey observes that the research offers a mixed view of whether the presence of foreign firms has a positive effect on productivity in the host country, with some studies reporting a significant effect and others viewing the evidence as inconclusive.
However, Lipsey believes that, with productivity in foreign firms generally superior, this "suggests that overall production is improved by the presence of foreign-owned operations, although that question is rarely, if ever, examined. More conclusive, according to Lipsey, is evidence that foreign investment significantly boosts exports and economic growth in the host country. But he acknowledges that such an association "would not necessarily please critics of multinationals.
NBER periodicals and newsletters are not copyrighted and may be reproduced freely with appropriate attribution. More in this issue. The Digest: No. Share Twitter LinkedIn Email. Also in this issue:. What Causes House Price Fluctuations? Information Technology Spillovers.
0コメント