Professor at the Paris School of Mines, Olivier Lluansi was François Hollande’s industry and energy advisor at the Elysée. In November 2023, the Ministry of Economy entrusted him with a mission on the reindustrialization of France between now and 2035. His report, presented at the end of April, will ultimately not be made public. In question, the political agenda disrupted by the European and legislative elections. But, according to him, this is not the only reason. Your report “I was not lucky enough to please”explains in the book Reindustrialize. The challenge of a generation (Divisions, 322 pages, 23 euros) extracted from his mission, which has just been published. It calls into question the government’s goal of reaching 15% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the industry in 2035: “Neither realistic nor well-founded”judges – and considers that the current reindustrialization policy favors disruptive technologies and gigafactories too much, to the detriment of “hidden potential of territories” and the industrial fabric already existing in the country.
The States General of Industry date back to 2009, the Welsh report on industrial competitiveness from 2012. However, for almost fifteen years, the share of industry in French GDP has stagnated at around 10%. How do you explain it?
France has not always had the right reading table. We stopped our industrial policies starting in 1975, after the oil crisis, to change to an economic model that favors services. We continue after the 90s, when in Europe Germany was betting on industry as the engine of its reunification. In 2009, when we finally talked about industry in France again, we returned to models from thirty years ago, which were no longer adapted to the globalization of the economy.
An example: we have placed a lot of emphasis on the creation of industrial sectors, but today very few complex products are manufactured entirely in France. We are finally beginning to understand that we must rebalance this policy with that of the territories, which play a decisive role. Two-thirds of reindustrialization should come from the base, from the existing industrial fabric, while, until now, we have focused on exports, foreign investments and technological disruption. It took the country ten years for the administrative and political system to understand what the new industrial landscape was.
Why do you consider the Government’s objective of bringing the industry to 15% of GDP in 2035 unrealistic?
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