French plan to steal business from Brexit Britain undermined by World Bank rating
Despite efforts at economic reform, its position actually dropped one place since last year
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Your support makes all the difference.The latest World Bank ratings have damaged France's post-Brexit attempts to take over from the UK as the European hub for international business.
France was rated 29th in the world for "ease of doing business", behind less economically developed countries such as Georgia, Latvia and Macedonia.
Despite the French government's recent efforts to make the country more attractive for businesses, its position actually dropped one place since last year.
In the same rankings, the UK was the seventh-easiest place for doing business, with Germany at 17th and New Zealand topping the list.
The French government has been trying to simplify its financial regulations, particularly speeding up the process of transferral of ownership - for which it was ranked by the World Bank at 100.
It currently takes an average of 68 days to register a property in France compared to four days in Denmark, reports The Local.
France has also been ranked at number 82 for "getting loans from banks". Due to the high rates of business tax in France, it was placed in 63rd position for that category.
In its favour, France did come first for "trading across borders" and 18th for "enforcing business contracts".
Paris has been mooted as a possible successor to London as Europe's financial services capital, and its hopes will be bolstered by the news that the UK's economic growth has slowed to 0.5 per cent after Brexit.
Last week, the European Union's lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier demanded that all talks be conducted in his native tongue of French rather than English.
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