PARIS (Reuters) - Shaken by Islamist attacks and affected by the strike, France hopes that the "feel good" of a successful Euro 2016 football tournament a tentative economic recovery will trigger, although the direct impact will be short lived.
France's economy has shown a renewed interest in the last 18 months, after three years of near stagnation force, with growth of 1.3 percent in 2015 and expectations confusion in the first quarter with a growth stage 0.6 percent.
But the scenes of uncollected rubbish accumulating in the streets of Paris, canceled trains and pickets spectrum of flight cancellation as Air France pilots stop working are spoiling the efficient, prosperous image projected government expected.
While watching the opening France-Romania match at Stade de France on Friday, President Francois Hollande, a good football fan, also undoubtedly a French team that wins will give his popularity a boost lousy expected it desperately needs.
"You can show" things are improving "," Sports Minister Patrick Kanner told Reuters, referring to Hollande televised statement that has become a repeated by the ministers and mocked by opponents mantra.
In purely financial terms, France can expect windfall tournament one month is relatively modest, however.
A study by the University of Limoges, commissioned by the governing body of European football, UEFA, put the net injection of foreign funds into the economy, including purchased by tourists and expense of the organization, 1.27 million euros ($ 1.43 billion).
That's about 0.05 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), nothing more than a "flash in the pan" on the scale of a quarter, according to economist Nathalie Henaff of the University of Limoges.
"There will be a lucky break, but limited from a macro-economic view," he added his colleague Christophe Lepetit. "The Euros not start the economy. It simply can temporarily support some sectors," he said.
improve the image
That would be a great feat for the hospitality industry, which has yet to recover from the recent militant attacks in November that killed 130 people in Paris bars, a concert hall and outside the stadium, where he held the game opening.
"A successful tournament should help France to boost its image as a safe destination, which had been somewhat damaged after the terrorist attacks last year," the economist Diego Iscaro of IHS Global Insight said.
If the national team "Les Bleus" do well, France can also expect a small, temporary to shake consumer confidence, he added.
But if the government failed to get a grip on strikes, or if a bloody attack took place as millions of fans watching world's most important soccer event in second, damage to the reputation of France might outweigh any economic benefit.
France is deploying about 90,000 police and security personnel to avoid any risk of violence.
"The images of the roadblocks and riot police using water cannons and tear gas, widely reported by the international media, could discourage many fans without tickets to travel to France to enjoy the festive atmosphere," Iscaro said of IHS.
As for the popularity of Hollande, languishing at a record low approval of only 16 percent, Frederic Dabi from the IFOP polling does not expect much of a boost, even if the star strikers Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann propel France to victory.
"In the 1984 Euros, (President) Francois Mitterrand was very unpopular and not change anything for him, even though France had a stellar performance and (Michel) Platini scored nine goals," he said.
political, economic football dividends stylized look of France
