xports equaling
more than one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals,
Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some
components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate,
agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency
in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a
secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing
integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11
countries joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on 1 January 1999 -
will dominate the economic picture over the next several years.
Growth in 2001 will be bolstered by strong private consumption, yet
may be 1 or 2 points lower than in 2000, largely because of a
weakening in export demand.

France:
France is in the midst of transition, from an economy that
featured extensive government ownership and intervention to one that
relies more on market mechanisms. The government remains dominant in
some sectors, particularly power, public transport, and defense
industries, but it has been relaxing its control since the
mid-1980s. The Socialist-led government has sold off part of its
holdings in France Telecom, Air France, Thales, Thomson Multimedia,
and the European Aerospace and Defense Company (EADS). The
telecommunications sector is gradually being opened to competition.
France's leaders remain committed to a capitalism in which they
maintain social equity by means of laws, tax policies, and social
spending that reduce income disparity and the impact of free markets
on public health and welfare. The government has done little to cut
generous unemployment and retirement benefits which impose a heavy
tax burden and discourage hiring. It has also shied from measures
that would dramatically increase the use of stock options and
retirement investment plans; such measures would boost the stock
market and fast-growing IT firms as well as ease the burden on the
pension system, but would disproportionately benefit the rich. In
addition to the tax burden, the reduction of the work week to
35-hours has drawn criticism for lowering the competitiveness of
French companies.

French Guiana:
The economy is tied closely to that of France through
subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou,
fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. The
large reserves of tropica