Lorraine employers' organisations have called Luxembourg "a job hoover", to the extent that one of their representatives calls for the creation of a tax transition zone in the 'Grand Est'.

Christine Bertrand, president of MEDEF Meurthe-et-Moselle 54, has declared: "Our businesses are dying", a crisis she put before Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for the Economy, during an interview a few months ago.

BUSINESSES AREN'T SUFFOCATED WITH EXPENSES

It seems the time when the Grand Duchy's growth was viewed with good will is over. Today, the difference in attractiveness and competitiveness has reached such a level that representatives of the business world are asking the French government to take emergency measures.

Christine Bertrand specified that they were, in fact, only bouncing off a proposal of Emmanuel Macron's. They had no animosity towards Luxembourg, in part because there was a respect for businesses that France - where they "asphyxiate" companies with charges - did not replicate. Bertrand knew of one head of hospital, for example, who was struggling because he could no longer retain his staff.
How do you compete when a nurse with 15 years of experience earns €4.500 (net) in Luxembourg against €2.200 in France? The president of MEDEF 54 adds that salaries are an average of 30% higher in Luxembourg.

The solution could be a change in corporate tax in a given area, a sort of fiscal transition that would allow economic players in Lorraine to be able to better compete with their neighbours.

OPPORTUNISTIC GERMAN TEMPING COMPANIES

Opportunists skew the status quo even more. There are, for example, a number of German temping companies, established in Luxembourg, who do not hesitate to poach employees from the French side by offering them higher salaries ... even working for the same business! This has been made possible by specific features of German temporary work agencies, which allows them to offer permanent contracts.

Things have to change, especially since demographic predictions suggest a deterioration of the situation.

According to a study by the Lorraine Sillon (centre grouping the four intermunicipalities of Thionville, Metz, Nancy and Épinal), the change in population structure could lead to a drop of 400,000 active workers for the Greater Region by the end of the decade. This could lead to drastically unjust competition for Lorraine, and consequentially, a worrying increase in international tensions on the labour markets.

RTL

Christine Bertrand, president of MEDEF Meurthe-et-Moselle 54

While they might champion the same causes, Christine Bertrand does not take on the same vindictive tone of Metz's mayor Dominique Gros. Gros has been campaigning for tax compensation from Luxembourg to border municipalities for the same reasons. The employers' representative, on the other hand, has clarified that she prefers to collaborate constructively with Luxembourg, on different projects such as training programs, or redeveloping brownfield sites into attractive spaces for businesses in the Grand Duchy, which is already facing a shortage of available land.

The issue has far-reaching consequences, because, as it stands, almost one in 10 employees in the Grand Est region works abroad, 8.1% in 2015 according to INSEE. A next meeting is scheduled for 20 February at the Ministry of the Economy to try and move forward.