Economy

France's economy combines extensive private enterprise with substantial, but declining, government intervention. 

Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe.

Even after the loss of Algeria in the sixties, the French economy remains one of the most important and influential economies in the world. 

France also has a leading aerospace industry and is the only European power, after Russia, to have its own national space center.

The government retains considerable influence over key segments of infrastructure sectors, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms. 

It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors since the early 1990s. The government is slowly selling off holdings in France Telecom, Air France, as well as the insurance, banking, and defense industries.

France joined 10 other EU members to launch the euro on January 1, 1999, with euro coins and banknotes completely replacing the French franc in early 2002.

From the end of WWII the government is making enormous efforts to integrate their economy more and more with Germany to form what is today called the Franco German locomotive that pushes the rest of the European Union to become the most powerful economy in the world of all time.