Krugman doesn't sneer at Germany or its economy, even though he is a Jew whose grandparents escaped Hitler. What Krugman says is that Germany uses the Euro to suck money out of Southern European nations that can't keep up, like Greece and Italy and Spain. I'll take your word on the French stats, but I remember in the '50's that the French peasants were wearing shoes cut from old auto tires. 

Germany uses the Euro, weakened by the other economies, to export BMW's  by the millions along with Mercedes. If Germany reverted to the Mark, they couldn't sell their beautiful cars in America. Germany is at the top of the heap and wants to remain there. The French rely on immigrants to work to support their retired folks. A somewhat high unemployment rate keeps the wages low. Sort of like how we run our agriculture sector.