Continuity: "Sarkozy n'a pas fait que des conneries."

Now it's official: Hollande's competitiveness policy is in a direct line of descent from Sarkozy's:

"Sarkozy n'a pas fait que des conneries. Il s'est trompé en voulant faire les choses de manière précipitée et en choisissant la TVA, mais réduire les cotisations famille n'est pas idiot", reconnaît un conseiller qui travaille sur le sujet.

The goal is to reduce payroll taxes (in this case, cotisations familiales) paid by the employer, in the hope that the cost savings will be reflected in the selling price of manufactured goods, thus increasing French competitiveness. The tax burden formerly incident on payrolls will be spread to a much broader base, probably via the CSG. The left prefers this to the social VAT because it is less regressive, presumably, although the precise details of the new tax, not yet announced, will be important here.