You're comparing the maximum rate for France with average rates in the other countries, which isn't really fair. The actual average in France is 23% (in 2016,

You're comparing the maximum rate for France with average rates in the other countries, which isn't really fair. The actual average in France is 23% (in 2016, it's probably lower now) so nothing really extraordinary. The maximum rate is also being progressively brought down from 33% to 25%.