PARIS — President François Hollande of France received a challenge on Monday from a report he himself commissioned, as an expert panel called for a “competitiveness shock” to a country falling behind in the global economic race.

France is facing “a crisis of confidence,” Louis Gallois, one of France’s best-known businessmen, said to reporters after handing over a set of policy recommendations to the French government. Mr. Gallois said the proposals, which include a major reduction in payroll taxes, were meant to “stop the slide, the stalling, and to support investment.”

“This is what I call the competitiveness shock,” said Mr. Gallois, who led a team of government officials in various ministries in preparing the report.

Mr. Hollande’s government commissioned the study and appointed Mr. Gallois, a former chief executive of European Aeronautic Defense & Space, as its investment commissioner.