By Marc Giraud
France does not suffer from a lack of projects, but from a profound erosion of its industrial tool. More serious still, the human skills that keep it alive are becoming scarce.
An erroneous vision of reindustrialisation
Emmanuel Macron stated: "Nothing justifies our being a nation that knows how to rebuild Notre-Dame-de-Paris in five years and sometimes takes more than five years to carry out an industrial project or build a chicken coop." This statement summarizes an erroneous vision, reducing the colossal challenge of reindustrialisation to a simple matter of administrative deadlines.
Comparing the reconstruction of an iconic monument, as complex as it may be, to the rebirth of a productive ecosystem is a fundamental mistake. A construction site has a beginning and an end. An industry, on the other hand, is a living organism, which innovates, produces and fights in the markets continuously.
To think that it is enough to apply the "Notre-Dame method" by accelerating procedures is to ignore the root of the problem: France has not only lost time, it has lost its know-how.
The loss of know-how, the heart of the problem
We cannot decree the creation of "industrial cathedrals" while forgetting that for thirty years, the country has closed factories, dismantled workshops and abandoned research centers. The technical sectors have emptied out.
The hemorrhage of talent has left deep scars. Political incantations will not be enough to replace thousands of highly qualified engineers, technicians and workers who have left or are untrained.
The essential triptych of industry
An industry is not just a political slogan or an inaugural ribbon cut in front of the cameras. It is based on an essential and interdependent triptych: innovate, manufacture and sell. Each of these steps requires a robust ecosystem that France has allowed to weaken.
Innovation requires years of research and accumulated know-how. Manufacturing requires efficient machines, reliable supply chains and trained operators. Finally, sales require an aggressive commercial strategy and real competitiveness.
This triptych cannot function without the human skills that are its driving force. Yet, it is this essential link that is lacking today. This profound ignorance leads to policies that treat the symptoms, such as administrative slowness, without ever tackling the disease: the disappearance of the network of skills.
As long as decision-makers continue to confuse an exceptional construction site with the complexity of a living industrial ecosystem, reindustrialisation risks remaining an ambition of speeches rather than a tangible and sustainable economic reality for the country.
Bernard Bertucco Van Damme