Since 2020, I’ve been trying to be one of the leading voices on the issues of digital sovereignty in the first instance, and then, more generally, because it’s inseparable, industrial sovereignty. This battle is one of national sovereignty, because European sovereignty, despite what many people think, doesn’t exist, for a number of reasons that would merit an article of their own.

To say that France’s digital and industrial sovereignty is a battle of the past is false, and a number of players, large and small, are demonstrating that it is still possible, in sectors such as defense, Dassault (aviation and systems), finance (we have some fine banks), and luxury goods. What they all have in common is the excellence of their know-how and mastery of technology.

This success is the fruit of the determination of the entrepreneurs who created these companies, and of their heirs who have fought to perpetuate and grow them. For a long time, they have also benefited from the excellence of France’s education system, cheap energy thanks to nuclear power, and high-quality infrastructure (railways, roads, ports, etc.), all of which are major assets for our country.

For at least two decades, these advantages have been undermined for ideological reasons: EDF was almost dismantled to favour German industry, not to mention our national education system, which no longer really trains the nation’s vital forces. Indeed, one assessment follows another: PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2022, TIMSS (Trends In Mathematics and Science Study) 2023. And the reality is hard to face!
Take the latest TIMSS 2023, for example: the little Frenchies came last in the ranking of European countries, and penultimate out of the fifty countries assessed (Le JDD du 4/12/24)! Let’s not forget the decision by the Puissance Alpha competitive entrance exam, which brings together 19 engineering schools, to do away with the French written exam, on the grounds that it was too anxiety-provoking for candidates. (Le Figaro étudiant – 17/10/24). The test that caused such a stir was a simple MCQ…

Everyone agrees that the future development of the economy will be based on technological and digital innovation. How can we continue to be competitive when we have allowed ideologues to wreck our national education system, destroying for the next ten to twenty years at least any possibility of providing a scientific and technical elite that is up to the task? Relatively high-calibre engineers are emerging from our courses of excellence, but for how many more years?

Finally, the main solution proposed to the calamitous management of public finances (a situation that has existed for decades, and has worsened in recent months) is to increase taxation, which is already one of the highest in the world, if not the highest. How can our businesses hope to remain competitive and continue to invest?

Translated with DeepL