Despite a difficult 2014 for the French economy, France is still far from being the ‘sick man of Europe’

A number of concerns have been raised about the French economy following disappointing economic figures in 2014. As part of our ‘economies of Europe’ series, Mathieu Plane assesses the development of the French economy since the crisis and whether commentators are right to regard France as the new ‘sick man of Europe’. He argues that while France remains highly dependent on effective policy action at the European level, there is more reason for optimism concerning the economy in 2015 than is commonly recognised.