We never thought we’d say this, but France has become the economic reform leader of Europe. Fresh off his productive meeting with Donald Trump last week, French President Emmanuel Macron disclosed that he wants to kill France’s “exit tax.”

“I don’t want any exit tax. It doesn’t make sense,” Mr. Macron told Forbes. “People are free to invest where they want. I mean, if you are able to attract, good for you, but if not, one should be free to divorce.” The 30% levy hits top earners who take their assets out of France, which as Mr. Macron rightly says is a disincentive to invest in France in the first place.

The exit tax raises a pittance—some 70 million euros in 2017—but it sends a negative signal about the climate for entrepreneurs that Mr. Macron is trying to change. The tax was introduced by the ostensibly conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy, but in France it has been hard to tell the left from the right on economics.

Mr. Macron has already reformed the tax code with a flat 30% levy on financial income such as dividends and scrapped a wealth tax on everything but property. He also pushed through historic labor reforms that make it easier to fire, which means easier to hire, workers. He also told Forbes that he is intent on winning his current showdown with railways unions, which are staging national strikes against reforms.

All of this is fascinating to watch and offers some hope that the welfare states of Europe can be reformed to create the growth to pay their way. American conservatives who shrink in horror at entitlement reform might want to learn some French.