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I flagged you because I am seriously sick of seeing questions get answered by pure concentrated sarcasm. You don't even attempt to be helpful here.

There's a middle ground between "worker abuse" and "useless bureaucracy". France is closer to the latter right now (I'm french, I've got experience setting up companies both in the US and in France).

This is because:

1. Many systems aren't properly automated and/or don't know how to communicate between each other. So you have to deal with extra paperwork when not necessary. Go in-person somewhere that isn't even necessarily the city you live in, you have to plan ahead for these things. Fax or snail-mail things where email would be sufficient. Etc.

2. Complying with european laws isn't always easy. You sometimes have to deal with slightly-different versions of certain laws, regulations, etc for no good reason. This is what the EU is supposed to fix, and the EU helps but it doesn't always work.

3. Complying with VAT is super hard for the same reasons. This is being worked on in 2018 and 2019. It should be getting easier soon.

4. There's less tooling, documentation, and marketing around creating startups in France. If you're in the EU you'll be tempted to do it in Ireland for tax reasons. Otherwise you'll end up in Delaware. This isn't even because it's necessarily a good idea for your case, but simply because everyone else is doing it.

But, you know, your helpful cynicism too.