The French will be able to fill out 100 percent of official forms online by 2022 while the use of merit-based pay for civil servants will be increased, the government said on Thursday in a first review of public spending. The review is the first attempt to spell out how President Emmanuel Macron aims to cut public spending by 60 billion euros over the term of his mandate as promised, in a country which has one of the highest public spending ratios in the world.
"There is no doubt we may hurt some sensitivities, some situations we got used to," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told a news conference. "But you can't fix a country, you can't aim high, without being aware that you must shake and change some of these situations sometimes."
The philosophy behind the government's plan was to digitalise most technical and repetitive tasks in the different layers of bureaucracy, Philippe said. The government would also train employees to act as advisors rather than form fillers and all companies will be able to bid online for government tenders from October 31 this year.