Three Layers Across the Board in France

Abstract

This chapter will detail the French situation as regards the objectives and logic of the Euroirse project. There are some fundamental differences between the countries participating in Euroirse, and the references chosen for the general study — careers, job protection and the social system — are not relevant in the French case. The French partners, IEP EDIAS, therefore chose to modify the approach to the global problem by emphasizing that the most important elements in terms of individual managers and job security stem not from specific jobs but from a system created in 2008 known as the statut d’autoentrepreneur. The same phenomenon can be observed in other countries, but in the French case it is clearly connected not only to the social system, but also to political changes in recent years. The following section provides an explanation of the background and current situation in France. The two main differences between the French labour system and those of the rest of the European countries are to be found both in the predominance of the state, and the weight of the historical social system, as represented principally by elements of the civil service who are in favour of preserving the old social rules.