Orange chief backs French President Macron's plans for labour reform

Macron wants to liberalise rigid labour laws to give firms freedom to negotiate pay and conditions.

Pictures of the week — French president Emmanuel Macron arrives to deliver a speech at the Pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris earlier in the year Christophe Ena/AFP

Orange has backed the ambitious reform agenda of Emmanuel Macron as the new French President bids to kick-start the economy of the Fifth Republic.

Ramon Fernandez, the head of finance and strategy at the French telecoms giant told IBTimesUK:"If you ask me 'do I broadly agree with Macron's economic plans?' - then I would have to say yes. We need to do more with labour market reforms. We need to introduce some flexibility to the way we work."

Macron, elected last month as an centrist independent, has laid out plans for labour reform, cuts to corporation tax and an ambitious combination of spending cuts and stimulus.

Macron wants to liberalise France's rigid labour laws to give companies more freedom to negotiate working hours and pay. He also plans to cut 120,000 jobs from the sprawling civil service.

He has proposed that France adopt a Nordic-style economic model, combining spending cuts of €60bn over five years with a €50bn stimulus package. His plans are also business friendly, with a proposal to cut the corporate tax rate from 33% to the EU average of 25%.

Orange is one of France's blue chip group's employing around 155,000 staff across 29 countries, including 96,000 in France. Last year it posted a net income up 10% to €3.3bn on sales of €41bn last year, 0.6% higher.

Over recent years Europe's sovereign debt crisis and sluggish economic growth in France have dampened the appetite for investment in the eurozone's second biggest economy.

However, analysts say the plans of the 10th president of the Fifth Republic would benefit groups with heavy investment plans such as those in housing, property, telecoms firms.

Orange is committed to investing €15bn in its worldwide networks over the three years to 2018, as it prepares for superfast broadband.

However, Macron does face opposition. French union leaders have warned against reforms being rushed through by the new President. And on the day of his election hundreds of people demonstrated against his plans on the streets of Paris.