Where does France rank among European investment projects?

France's advantages in attracting foreign investment. France is the second largest market in the EU. France covers an area of 550,000 square kilometers and has a population of 6 1 10,000. The ranking of world economic strength recently published by UNCTAD shows that France's GDP in 2000 was $65.438+0.294 billion, ranking fifth in the world, behind the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain (according to French statistics, the GDP in 2006 was 1.46 trillion euros); France is also a big trading country in the world, with a total import and export volume of 201647.7 billion euros. Based on various factors, France is the second largest market in Europe after Germany. The unified EU market with 65,438+05 member countries and a population of 380 million is one of the biggest attractions of France to foreign investors. The European Union has a high degree of integration and strong purchasing power of its residents, and has realized the free flow of goods, services, funds and people. Entering the French market means entering the whole EU market. The smooth implementation of the euro marks great progress in the construction of European economic integration. Negotiations on the EU's eastward expansion are in full swing, and it is expected that the number of EU member countries will gradually increase, which shows that the EU market has a broader prospect. 2. The French market is highly open, and France's opening to foreign investment has also experienced a gradual process. After 1980s, the French government adopted a series of measures to gradually relax restrictions on foreign investment, reduce administrative examination and approval, and accelerate the pace of attracting foreign investment. French government decree 1990 stipulates that the company's investment projects in EU member countries (except strategic areas) are exempted from administrative examination and approval, and the government will only check whether the company belongs to EU countries according to the investment registration form within 15 days. When the deadline arrives, the government has no objection and the investment application will take effect automatically; Companies of EU member States that have invested in France, such as new investment projects, are exempted from the 15-day review period and take effect after legal registration; Investment projects in non-EU member countries need a review period of 1 month. After the expiration, if the government has no conclusion, the application will be considered as passed. From 65438 to 0996, France further relaxed the administrative examination and approval of foreign investment, and basically implemented the foreign investment project registration system. 3. The legal system is sound and the legitimate rights and interests of investors are guaranteed. France is the founder of the "civil law" system, and the current French legal system is the most typical embodiment of the civil law. All kinds of economic and commercial activities are regulated and restricted by corresponding laws and regulations. 4. The infrastructure is perfect. France's transportation, communication, energy and other infrastructure are very developed. The country has formed a dense road and railway network, which is connected with the road network of neighboring countries. In addition, France's air and sea transportation are also very developed. 5. Developed science and technology, high labor productivity According to OECD statistics, in 2000, there were 320,000 scientific researchers in France, and domestic research and experimental development R&; D Total expenditure accounts for 2. 17% of GDP, second only to Germany among EU member states. 200 1 year, the number of French patent applications10.2 million, ranking second in the EU. France is at the world's leading level in many high-tech fields, such as nuclear energy, high-speed railway, aerospace, precision instruments, medicine, energy development, agriculture and agricultural products processing, military industry, electronic technology, biochemistry and environmental protection. According to OECD statistics in 2000, the proportion of people with higher education in France is as high as 30%, which is higher than that in Germany, Britain and other countries. The quality of French labor force is high, and the labor productivity is at the leading level in the world. (B) France's unfavorable factors in attracting foreign investment 1. Heavy corporate tax The tax composition of enterprises investing in France mainly includes corporate tax, value-added tax, occupational tax and various compulsory social contributions. Heavy taxes have greatly reduced France's competitiveness. At present, the corporate tax rate of small and medium-sized enterprises in France is 36.6%, and the corporate tax rate of enterprises with turnover exceeding 8 million euros is 4 1.6%. Non-profit or loss-making enterprises only need to pay the prescribed basic tax (about 800 euros). Value-added tax is the most important consumption tax in France and the largest tax in the national fiscal revenue. There are two kinds of VAT rates: basic food, books, medicines, country hotels, plays, concerts, etc. The tax rate is 5.5%, and the tax rate of other goods and services is 19.6%. Occupational tax is a tax levied by local governments on legal persons and natural persons engaged in professional activities. The enterprise is the main undertaker of this tax, and the amount is calculated according to the rental value, fixed assets value and total wages. France is a welfare state, and people's health, illness, death, unemployment, retirement, schooling, housing and so on all have corresponding social security. In order to support this heavy social security system, everyone should pay social insurance premiums according to their income, and employers should also pay them in proportion. There are more than 10 types of payment promised by employers, which has caused a heavy burden to enterprises. If the net salary of the employee is 1 1,000 euros, the actual expenditure of the employer is about 1 1,800 euros. 2. The labor price is high and the employment system is rigid. The labor price in France is relatively high, and the legal minimum wage is rising. At present, it is 6.83 euros/hour, and the monthly gross salary is nearly 1 000 euros. Coupled with the various contributions that employers have to pay, enterprises spend a lot of money on personnel. The employment system in France is rigid, which makes it easy to recruit people but difficult to fire them. Employers have no right to dismiss employees at will. In France, enterprises can only dismiss employees under the following two circumstances: first, the cause of gross negligence, that is, employers must provide sufficient evidence to prove that employees have gross negligence; The second is "economic reasons", that is, the employer must explain the economic reasons for canceling the post and cannot replace the dismissed person with a new one. For example, with the improvement of economic conditions, enterprises must give priority to the original employees if they want to restore this position. The rigid employment system and the existence of "iron rice bowl" are one of the biggest obstacles for foreign enterprises to invest in France. 3, high prices, expensive living expenses Paris has high prices and various living expenses, which are among the best in Western Europe. Although the food price in France is not too expensive, the rent, gasoline, transportation and communication costs are very high, and the resident staff stationed by foreign companies are also very expensive. If there is no big turnover, it will be difficult to support it. 4. It is difficult for resident personnel of foreign enterprises to apply for visas and residence permits. France has a very strict immigration policy. In addition to EU member states and a few developed countries such as the United States, Japan and Canada, France has many restrictions on visas and residence permits for foreigners. In addition, the "foreign merchant certificate" is a unique measure for France to manage the personnel of foreign companies.