French industrial policy: Digital challenges

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the specifics of current industrial policy in France. The challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have set many new targets for the French state, which in turn reexposed the old unsolved problems for the country. Today, the key and intractable problem remains the continuous growth of the industrial and technological dependence of the national economy on the leading industrial countries. Among the priorities of the state policy is the reindustrialization of the country on the basis of the latest breakthrough technologies, among them the key role belongs to digital technologies. The transformation of the role of industrial policy in the digital economy is in the spotlight. Special attention is paid to the opportunities and risks of France in the new geopolitical conditions of increasing international competition. The emergence of the digital giants GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) on the international stage is associated with serious risks and leads to an increase in technological dependence on the United States. Based on various indicators, the author tried to identify and analyze the main technological risks in France, as well as to consider ways to overcome them. The study revealed that in the field of digital technology, France is even significantly behind its European competitors. The results of the analysis showed that with the development of digital technologies, the concepts of «industry» and «industrial policy» are being rethought. The digital technology sector also requires non-standard solutions in the field of directions and instruments of state intervention, namely, a balanced policy that organically includes measures of horizontal and vertical policy. It is stated that the heavy tax and administrative burden on industrial enterprises is a serious barrier to the digital reindustrialization of France.