Is France the Only "Sick Man" in Europe?

France is the 'sick man of Europe.' Well, it's fairer to say that it's France's turn to be the 'sick man of Europe,' a title no country wants. According to Reuters, the phrase seems to have originated with Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who wrote it in reference to the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in the mid-19th century. The Tsar said Turkey was "sick" and journalists added the "man of Europe" a century later. It has been bestowed on whichever European state has a lagging economy. In the 1970s, it was the UK, then seen as prey to militant unions, before Margaret Thatcher challenged them and won. In the 1990s, it was Germany as it struggled with the costs of reunification. Italy, with no or low growth and huge debts, has had the title occasionally over the past four years. So has Greece, as well as struggling Portugal. Now, it's France. According to Reuters France is the sick man of Europe because its manufacturing and service sectors are contracting. But in reality, France is no sicker than any other country in Europe. They all suffer from the same problems : monetary over-stimulation, over-regulation, over-taxation and a cradle-to-grave socialist mentality. This could include Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland and Italy, to name a few. But Northern Europe is not exempt. The disease simply hasn't created enough symptoms yet to be noticeable - but it will, according to Reuters. The January unemployment rate for the total EU was 12% (with France 10.9%, Germany 5%, UK 7.9%, Ireland 11.9%, Portugal 15.3%, Spain 25.8%, Greece 26.8%). Even the northern EU member countries average 7%, except for Norway, not a member of the Euro currency zone, at 3.9%. Not a picture of economic health or an argument for social calm. And in France, the number of jobless surged by 0.9% in February to a new record of 3.34 million, the labor ministry said last week. The number of new jobseekers rose by 31,500 in February, it said, admitting  there had been a "marked progression" in unemployment. ~~~~~ Here is Reuters' argument for calling France Europe's 'sick man' : "at a time when many other European economies are showing some growth, output in France's manufacturing and service sectors is contracting. Unemployment is rising, with a quarter of those under age 25 jobless....This malaise has centered media attention on the man who is implicitly held to be accountable : the Socialist President Francois Hollande. He is seen as vacillating – he scrapped a number of his initiatives when they were met with sustained protests - and out of touch. Thus, when the French far right party, the National Front, did well in the local government elections last Sunday, images of the president looking doleful were everywhere - as were pictures of a joyous Marine Le Pen, the National Front leader. Disenchantment with the EU is now sweeping France. The mainstream parties, where the official position has long been supportive of the EU and the Euro, are being challenged to be more skeptical. The liberal political philosopher Pierre Manent writes that 'life for European citizens is determined more and more not by the familiar national debate...but by the outcome of a European process that is much less comprehensible.' This simple truth - that most people are unfamiliar with and thus cannot relate to the forces that govern their lives - has been the theme that Le Pen and her comrades have hammered at mercilessly, finally catching the popular mood." ~~~~~The rise in the French jobless rate is likely to put even more pressure on President Francois  Hollande, with the overall number of jobseekers having increased by more than  420,000 since he took office in May 2012. Hollande's Socialists are struggling to jump-start France's stagnant economy  and are expected to suffer a major losses in the second round of  municipal elections this coming Sunday, which could lead to a cabinet reshuffle. The labor ministry vowed the government would "continue and intensify" its  efforts to fight unemployment after the release of the latest figures. ~~~~~ Dear readers, these unemloyment figures could not come at a worse time for France's ruling Socialist Party. President Hollande’s party took a beating in the first round on March 23rd. The Socialists took 38% of the vote, far behind the mainstream right UMP at 46%. The Socialists came humiliatingly third in several towns. The first round was won by the center-right UMP party. But the symbolic victory went to Marine Le Pen’s populist National Front (FN). The Socialists may hang on to some big cities after the second round on March 30th, including Paris, even though the UMP mayoral candidate came on first, because of a deal made early this week between the Socialists and the French Green Party. In other places, the Socialists are in an awkward spot, nowhere more so than in Marseille. The left had hoped to win, but came in third behind both the first place UMP and the FN. The National Front is not the kind of party that you would want running a liberal democratic country. The FN is an ultra-right organization that often runs afoul of French anti-Semitism laws and whose founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the father of Marine Le Pen, is often accused and occasionally convicted under the French anti-Semitism laws. The administrative abilities of the FN are not deep, and no one in France thinks the FN could win enough votes to become the majoriry party, but the FN might force the main parties to do some hard thinking both about France and its place in the EU. A resurgence of incisive political thought from France - a country that prides itself on its use of reason - would be good for Europe and it would give greater weight to British Prime Minister David Cameron's calls for a streanlining of the EU that rolls back unnecessary and costly EU regulations and puts more decisionmaking power back at the country level. Meanwhile, French politics may be partially renewed through challenges from the FN. While the Reuters editorial is well-thought out, it makes the fundamental mistake of proposing that only certain European countries, especially southern ones, are "sick." The truth is that all of Europe is sick, with the possible exception of Germany, which would be better off if it didn't have to carry the financial burden of keeping the rest of the EU afloat - France included.