Thinking towards the future. French and German businesspeople and their expectations for 2025

As a consequence of the financial, economic and social crisis, the economy lied at the heart of much of the public debate in Europe.

Although we know about the positions of political leaders, economists and other intellectuals and although Franco-German divergence over economic issues has been clearly identified, we know less about what economic players expected - whilst they represent a major part of civil society and the issues debated involved them first and foremost.

This publication is based on interviews to economic players in 2014 in both France and Germany, the two biggest economies in the euro zone, known for both their recurrent disagreements and their ability to compromise. They were asked to imagine the situation in 2025 - a timeframe that made various scenarios possible without becoming detached from the present.