<P> Despite being a widely liberalized economy, the government continues to play a significant role in the economy: government spending, at 56% of GDP in 2014, is the second highest in the European Union . Labour conditions and wages are highly regulated . The government continues to own shares in corporations in a range of sectors, including banking, energy production and distribution, automobiles, transportation, and telecommunications . These differ from countries such as the US or UK where most of these companies have been privatized . </P> <P> In April and May 2012, France held a presidential election in which the winner François Hollande had opposed austerity measures, promising to eliminate France's budget deficit by 2017 . The new government stated that it aimed to cancel recently enacted tax cuts and exemptions for the wealthy, raising the top tax bracket rate to 75% on incomes over a million euros, restoring the retirement age to 60 with a full pension for those who have worked 42 years, restoring 60,000 jobs recently cut from public education, regulating rent increases; and building additional public housing for the poor . </P> <P> In June 2012, Hollande's Socialist Party won an overall majority in the legislative elections, giving it the capability to amend the French Constitution and allowing immediate enactment of the promised reforms . French government bond interest rates fell 30% to record lows, less than 50 basis points above German government bond rates . </P> <P> The French government has run a budget deficit each year since the early 1970s . In mid-2012, French government debt levels reached € 1,833 billion . This debt level was the equivalent of 91% of French GDP . </P>

What kind of economic system does france have