On the face of it, there is little to suggest France is experiencing the surge in entrepreneurship that Europe needs to compete more effectively with the US and Asia in the coming years.
Starting a company generally involves a willingness to work more punishing hours than a salaried employee and to embrace more insecurity. By clinging to a shortened, 35-hour working week, many French people seem to be demanding more leisure instead.
However, even as the European Commission - in its attempt to revive its Lisbon agenda for improved competitiveness - grapples with the continent's chequered record on business creation, there is evidence of a sustained resurgence in company start-ups in France.
In 2004, there were 224,000 businesses created from scratch in France, a 12.5 per cent increase on 2003. What is more, this was a continuation of a growth trend that can be traced back to 1998.
