Nearly all Europeans believe their governments are making it difficult for entrepreneurs to start businesses, and southern Europeans are particularly pessimistic.

Manufacturing output in the Eurozone was way up last month. Even troubled economies like Spain and Italy posted big gains, while Greece’s contraction slowed down. But there was one big loser: France, whose manufacturing sector contracted, hitting a low it hasn’t reached in months, raising concerns that it is losing ground to it’s neighbor across the Rhine. This is bad news for President Hollande, whose popularity is already scraping the bottom. Has the stage been set for a Sarkozy comeback?

The eurozone’s most important economy could be in for a rude awakening. In the wake of Standard & Poor’s recent downgrade of the Netherlands, Germany’s coveted triple-A credit rating may be at risk. Germany is one of only two Eurozone countries left with the top rating, but with its slowing output, aging population, expensive pledges to save the euro, and a new, untested governing coalition, the problems that brought down the Netherlands down may eventually afflict the economy holding Europe together.