According to Chirac, France’s exports are lagging not because France is losing its international competitiveness – although it is, especially to Germany – but because of the strong euro. Likewise, France’s economic growth is waning not because France has failed to undertake necessary structural reforms, but because European interest rates are too high.
希拉克善于在政治上寻找“替罪羊”和运用借口托词。他辩称，法国出口下降并不是因为法国失去了它的国际竞争力——尽管事实的确如此，尤其是法国对德国的出口——而是因为走势强劲的欧元。同样地，法国的经济增长衰退并不是因为法国没有能够采取必要的结构性改革，而是因为欧洲的利率太高了。