L’Écocirque features all the awe-inspiring acts that audiences have come to expect under the big top—aerialists walking a tight rope, a juggler deftly keeping multiple pins in motion, and a burly man displaying incredible feats of strength. What makes it distinct is the innovative way it includes wild animals, despite widespread bans on their use in the circus. The trick? Instead of live animals, l’Écocirque employs holograms, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

France assumed Germany’s traditional role as the driving economic force in Europe after a strong finish to last year, while the German economy contracted in the final three months as it grappled with a resurgence of the coronavirus, official data showed Friday, the New York Times reported. Economists expect growth across Europe to return to pre-pandemic levels in the first part of this year but with the pace varying by country.

Imerys SA, the French provider of specialty materials, is planning a sale of its high temperature solutions business, Bloomberg News reported. The Paris-based company is working with advisers at Morgan Stanley and Rothschild & Co. to gauge interest in the unit. It could fetch as much as 900 million euros ($1 billion). The high temperature solutions division provides minerals to make insulation materials for molds and furnaces used by metal foundries and iron and steel producers, as well as to protect industrial equipment used in power plants, chemical refineries and cement factories.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire dangled the possibility of further tax cuts for industry, in a sign President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to again run on a pro-business platform in April’s elections, Bloomberg News reported. Addressing company executives in Paris, he said the state needs to look further at how to lessen a burden that disadvantages France’s manufacturing sector compared to European peers.

French growth and inflation will moderate in 2022 after a faster than expected recovery this year, after which a tighter labour market will boost wages, the French central bank forecast on Sunday, Reuters reported. The euro zone's second-biggest economy is set to grow 6.7% this year, the Bank of France said in its latest long term outlook, raising its forecast up from 6.3% previously. The post-pandemic economy's momentum would wane next year, with growth slowing to 3.6% and easing back further to 2.2% in 2023 and 1.4% in 2024, the central bank said.

France plans to require banks to build up their capital reserves again after easing requirements during the coronavirus crisis to keep credit flowing, the finance stability council said on Monday, Reuters reported. The council said it expects to raise the countercyclical capital buffer from 0% to the pre-crisis level of 0.5% at its next meeting in March. The council, which is chaired by Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and includes the central bank governor, said that economic and financial conditions justified increasing the amount of extra capital banks have to keep on hand for a rainy day.

French judges are set to rule on Monday on whether to overturn a record 4.5 billion euro ($5.1 billion) fine against Swiss bank UBS (UBSG.S) for allegedly helping wealthy clients stash undeclared assets offshore, Reuters reported. The case is being watched by banks to see if it signals a toughening European stance. Fines in Europe for tax-related and other offences have in the past been smaller than in the United States, but the size of the UBS penalty has proved an exception.

French economic activity reached a level in August not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic and has continued rising since, aided by a strong recovery in the service sector, according to a Bank of France’s survey of businesses, Bloomberg News reported. Economic output was about 0.5% above early 2020 levels in October and will rise again in November, putting the euro area’s second-largest economy on track for roughly 0.75% growth in the final quarter of the year, the estimates show.

A troubling post-Brexit fishing spat between Britain and France showed few signs of abating Monday, a day before a threatened French blockade of British boats and trucks, the Associated Press reported. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned France that the U.K. will “not roll over” in the face of what she termed “unreasonable” threats from Paris. French fishing crews stood their ground, demanding a political solution to a local dispute that has become the latest battleground between Britain and the European Union.

France announced Wednesday that it will bar British fishing boats from some French ports starting next week if no deal is reached with the U.K. in a dispute over fishing licenses — and suggested it may restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands as well, the Associated Press reported. Since the U.K. left the economic orbit of the European Union at the start of the year, relations between London and Paris have become increasingly frayed. France vehemently protested the decision last month by the U.K.