EDITORS NOTE: This photo is part of the AFP photo project named "Presidentielle: qu'attendent les electeurs? / Voters' voices in France's key election." / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - RESTRICTED TO FRENCH ELECTIONS ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE
Eric Laurent, 48, CEO of Eznov, maker of a simplified automated drone, employing seven people, married with two children and living in Rambouillet, outside Paris, poses with his voting card at his company office in Metz, eastern France, on Februay 21, 2017. What should be the priorities of the next French president? "He needs to be pragmatic and make our lives easier. Subsidies for innovation should actually go to innovative projects and they should get to them fast. In France, we have very good ideas but almost all start-ups end up getting sold to foreign companies. We are good at first, when it comes to designing the engine and engaging first gear, but when it's time to shift to second gear, it's so difficult... They might as well remove some charges and let us move forward. To compensate, we could get rid of the thousands of different subsidies that are too complicated for small businesses to request anyway. In the end, 80 percent of tax credits go to big companies that don't need it." / AFP PHOTO / Jean Christophe VERHAEGEN / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - RESTRICTED TO FRENCH ELECTIONS ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE