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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Now let's go to

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Speaker 1: Europe because this all comes as an AI summit is

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Speaker 1: being held in Paris.

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Speaker 2: French President McCaul just spoke there for more on all

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Speaker 2: of this. Returned to Bloomberg's Tom McKenzie at that summit

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Speaker 2: and with the new French Finance Minister, Eric Lombard.

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Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, the Minister of Finance and Missuliminies, Eric Lomba's

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Speaker 1: fanning by for this conversation guys, and we're going to

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Speaker 1: start misielimines with that announcement from the French President macaun

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Speaker 1: just a few minutes ago, around one hundred and nine

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Speaker 1: billion euros about one hundred and thirty billion US dollars

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Speaker 1: of additional investment in France to build out AI data

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Speaker 1: centers and infrastructure to better position France. Is this the

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Speaker 1: French response to stargates in the US?

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Speaker 2: Well, if it is not exactly the restaurant Sudani, because

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Speaker 2: we had started that long time ago for our power

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Speaker 2: policy to build a nuclear power plans to have breed

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Speaker 2: energy and independent energy in France, stable and cheap will

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Speaker 2: allow us to have LATA centers. And this plan is

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Speaker 2: to finance for all than one hundred million euro data

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Speaker 2: centers and all that goes around that, with research teams,

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Speaker 2: with developers, with scientists, and we are already present on

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Speaker 2: that world of AI. But we will increase our investment

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Speaker 2: rhythm in order to go with the competition. And with

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Speaker 2: one hundred million euro, if you do the proportion with

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Speaker 2: the French populations in line with the five hundred million

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Speaker 2: of the United States.

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Speaker 1: Your confident this amount will be enough and then this

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Speaker 1: amount of funding will be the level that is the

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Speaker 1: amount for the day.

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Speaker 2: So I just see the story doesn't stop here. We

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Speaker 2: have two implemental investment The middiest one is from Dewey

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Speaker 2: held the emir rate from MG eight listed fifteen million ROW.

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Speaker 2: But many of the investors are there and that we'll

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Speaker 2: nownt an initiative in France and another European country.

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Speaker 3: Is this a France?

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Speaker 1: Is this a Europe that is playing catchup with the US,

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Speaker 1: playing can jump with China?

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Speaker 2: Yes, Europe has always been at the level of the

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Speaker 2: competition in old feeds you automotive, in the airline, the

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Speaker 2: airline industry is domain in France, and we want in

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Speaker 2: AI in the digital world to be at the level and.

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Speaker 3: The fore Fund and for the rest of Europe.

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Speaker 1: We've had new quests today from President Trump on tarace

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Speaker 1: still and aluminium.

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Speaker 3: Europe producers both.

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Speaker 1: Wa should the European response be to these tarist rants?

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Speaker 2: Well, President Trump is a dealmaker, so Europe will answer

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Speaker 2: as strongly as CEO position United States, and it is

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Speaker 2: a we'll have our order peries or we englished which

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Speaker 2: he got into the greaction of the utter state until

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Speaker 2: we are recurring.

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Speaker 1: Europe already has reciprocal tariffs in place on US steel

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Speaker 1: from the previous trade conflict.

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Speaker 3: They are now frozen. They could be unfrozen in March.

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Speaker 1: Is that an easy response for Europe to go to

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Speaker 1: you unfreeze those reciprocal tariffs and let them snap back in.

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Speaker 2: But we'll not give the answer before we have the

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Speaker 2: official answer from from Europe.

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Speaker 3: How much pay is you're prepared to inflict on the US.

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Speaker 2: We are prepared to do whatever is necessarily in order

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Speaker 2: to be better. We have the same tools we have the.

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Speaker 4: SEPPS if it'd be, and we will use them very calmly.

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Speaker 4: And we can assume that the European Commission has a

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Speaker 4: list of targets that they would enact tarifs on we.

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Speaker 2: Already because we knew that was coming, so we are ready.

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Speaker 3: Okay.

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Speaker 1: President Trump has asked for a probe into taxes globally,

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Speaker 1: and one thinks that the digital taxes that France has

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Speaker 1: that overwhelmingly impacts US tech.

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Speaker 3: Companies and bring in what five hundred to seven hundred

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Speaker 3: million euros a year? What France?

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Speaker 1: Would you and France consider dropping that digital tax in

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Speaker 1: order to avoid a trade war.

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Speaker 2: I'm not true that the tax issue is related to

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Speaker 2: the trade war. But we have put together tax actually

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Speaker 2: on the digital company that we are maintaining because that

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Speaker 2: is the law of France. And we'd see that comes

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Speaker 2: into another type of country with United State. I hope

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Speaker 2: it will not, because that is the question of sovereignity

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Speaker 2: and every country as its own tax system.

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Speaker 3: We have on and we'll sticker to.

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Speaker 1: Would you consider putting the digital tax on the table

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Speaker 1: as a negotiating ship It.

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Speaker 2: Is not a negotiaty don't we have it already in place.

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Speaker 3: So it's not The digital tax is not changing. No,

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Speaker 3: it's not attending.

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Speaker 1: There was some debate last year that you might re

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Speaker 1: raised it from three percent to five percent, so you

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Speaker 1: put that debate on hold you keep it a three percent,

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Speaker 1: we will.

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Speaker 2: Have the legistation and the discussion with the US administration.

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Speaker 1: Investors are looking at France around questionns of political stability

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Speaker 1: pursue Baiju.

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Speaker 3: The Prime Minister has pushed through his budgets.

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Speaker 1: How convinced can investors be, how certain can they be

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Speaker 1: of political stability towards the end of this year or

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Speaker 1: as another snap election the most obvious outcome.

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Speaker 2: We have a budget that has been first and we

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Speaker 2: are working on the next year budget and ogle the

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister is to work and the president tallection that

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Speaker 2: with the plice in twenty seven obviously to parliamentary system.

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Speaker 2: But I'm convinced that with the policy we are putting

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Speaker 2: in police, we have stability in the medium government.

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Speaker 3: We have stability in a million term. We cannot go

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Speaker 3: around those stamp elections later this year in France.

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Speaker 2: We can never buroote that the Parliament makes another decision.

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Speaker 2: But at this stage of Parliament is supporting our policy

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Speaker 2: and I'm confident that we last.

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Speaker 1: And when you speak to business executives globally who are

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Speaker 1: looking potentially to invest or potentially to force their investments

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Speaker 1: in France, you had a sense that the French brand France,

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Speaker 1: it has been damaged as a result of political ancent.

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Speaker 2: I don't believe that. For two reasons. Today we had

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Speaker 2: more than one hundred million of commitment to invest in trance.

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Speaker 2: And also if you look at the price of the

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Speaker 2: French tenure dead, which was higher that the Greek one

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Speaker 2: a few weeks ago, is not below and hopefully is

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Speaker 2: a public because we have a publicity of really neous

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Speaker 2: things of vegetifice.

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Speaker 3: Five point four percent. Five point four percent is the time.

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Speaker 2: We will stick to that and we will target three

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Speaker 2: percent in twenty twenty nine.

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Speaker 1: Is that realistic?

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Speaker 3: Three percent? Did that com when it quickens?

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Speaker 2: The commitment have taken in France of my European colleagues,

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Speaker 2: and yes, we will stick to that.

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Speaker 1: I want to look back to EU AI regulation now

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Speaker 1: that is being implemented in Europe this year, at a

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Speaker 1: time when President Trump is slashing AI regulations in the US.

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Speaker 3: To what extent does that handicap Europe?

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Speaker 2: Well, you are right, is europe regulation is two Died

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Speaker 2: and two Camperson. And on the top of the agenda,

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Speaker 2: we have an agenda of simplification until European regulation and

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Speaker 2: to submits in Europe are really geared toward that goal

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Speaker 2: and we're working on it. I A regulation is not

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Speaker 2: the most the biggest problem for the investors. We have

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Speaker 2: others up of regulation that we will slash or simplify,

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Speaker 2: you know that to be more business friendly going forward.

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Speaker 1: So that should be the focus, not on adapting EU

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Speaker 1: the EU AI Act. I mean, should the EU AI

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Speaker 1: Act be adapted, be rethought in light of the changes

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Speaker 1: around regulation in the US.

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Speaker 2: Whether the professional we had a run table at inz

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Speaker 2: for US today what they tell me it is a

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Speaker 2: way of IACT is implemented, which may be a problem

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Speaker 2: in certain countries, not the idea itself. So we will adapt,

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Speaker 2: you know there to cope with the demander of the business.

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Speaker 1: On the investment front, I've been speaking to executives here

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Speaker 1: throughout the days and one CEO of an AI company

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Speaker 1: said to me, funding infrastructure in Europe is the wrong solution.

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Speaker 1: We want to be in funding value creation. There are

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Speaker 1: risk with the funding around data centers and chips ends

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Speaker 1: up being misplaced.

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Speaker 2: Who has the divorce today is a blend for the infrastructure.

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Speaker 2: But just today I the French A company opened its

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Speaker 2: new tool, the.

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Speaker 3: Chat and that is a large success.

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Speaker 2: So quite confident that we will have both at the

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Speaker 2: same time.

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Speaker 3: Does France has the fiscal room?

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Speaker 1: Does Europe have the fiscal room to spend on both

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Speaker 1: the infrastructure and the value creation.

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Speaker 2: It's not physical. The investment is coming from private investors, Okay,

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Speaker 2: so we don't we not need the support for that.

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Speaker 3: Talk to us about your projections for growth with France.

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Speaker 1: What are the productivity gains we could come from a

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Speaker 1: What are you projecting in terms of the potential upside

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Speaker 1: on productivity games.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you have read the drug ear record. We

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Speaker 2: have to increase the productivity again in France. We have

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Speaker 2: to limit all across Europe and that goes through investing

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Speaker 2: and trading and will do both.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's yourneminist, yes see, thank you very much. Thank

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Speaker 1: you herey gm Bar the Finance Minister of France, on

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Speaker 1: that AI investments and the response to those Retten Trump

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Speaker 1: Tarrens