Event Summary:
After the elections: France’s new challenges
A new President, a new team, a new parliament: a fresh start for France
22 May 2007
At the offices of Aird Berlis
Summary by
The Staff of the Consulate General of France
Thanks to an exceptional voter turn-out of 85%, Nicolas Sarkozy assumes the French Presidency with one of the strongest mandates in the last 45 years. The outcome of the election was also a clear defeat for the extreme right (anti-immigration, anti-Europe) and extreme left (anti-globalization) forces in French politics.
In France the President is directly elected by the people for a term of 5 years. While other European countries also elect their President, few grant him such strong powers: the French President appoints the Prime Minister, chairs weekly cabinet meetings and may dissolve the National Assembly. As Commander in Chief of the armed forces, the President of France holds full power on foreign and defence policy. He also has considerable control in the realms of economic and social policy. Unlike many other European countries (e.g. The Netherlands, Germany and Italy) and Canada, the party of the President has also won a strong majority.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, is the first President born after the Second World War and embodies a new generation of leaders. His Prime Minister, François Fillon, 53, has appointed a new ministerial team of 8 men and 7 women, including high profile members of the socialist opposition, notably the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Bernard Kouchner. Cabinet also includes a number of Ministers who come from visible minority groups, notably Rachida Dati, whose parents are North African, and who holds the Justice portfolio. Some Junior Ministers come from civil society groups and NGOs; the youngest Deputy Minister - Ms. Rama Yade, a 30 year old woman of Senegalese origin - is in charge of Human Rights.
"Ce que j’ai dit, je le ferai"
France has many successes and assets to underline: strong and productive industry, good public services, a highly qualified workforce, modern infrastructure and a high quality health system. Nevertheless economic growth is slow, unemployment is high, especially among youth, and deficits public debt are high.
First, the President wants
to rebuild confidence in leadership and people. Accordingly, his motto is: “Ce que j’ai dit, je le ferai“, or in English: “Everything I have said, I will do”. His agenda to address France’s challenges is ambitious. Convening in July, a special session of the National Assembly will examine a set of new bills. Moreover, Parliament will have its role reinforced through a number of new initiatives including an annual message from the President, chairing of the Finance Committee by a member of the opposition and newly-organized consultations on major public service appointments.
President Sarkozy wants
to restore the value of labour. His target is 5% unemployment by 2012, instead of 8.3% today. He encourages working overtime and promotes the concept of "Flexisecurity", which means “keeping a high level of social protection but creating higher flexibility for the business community to hire and fire”. In time, he wants to bring in a law to ensure there are no disruptions to essential public transportation services.
He is also proactive in other fields:
- Law and order: he is in favour of tougher penalties for underage and repeat offenders.
- Immigration: family reunification is to be allowed only if accommodation and revenue are adequate to house and support the whole family without allowances or child benefits. Sarkozy believes France receives too many illegal immigrants and he intends to engage in dialogue with countries of origin, including building programs focusing on co-development.
- Respect of diversity: Sarkozy intends a Marshall Plan for the suburbs. A major component of such an undertaking would be that rights of citizens come with duties of citizenship, including accepting a core set of non-negotiable values.
Foreign policy: France’s main priorities
Europe, First. The President advocates for a new and more simple treaty which would include a higher degree of majority votes, more power sharing between Council and Parliament, more control from the national parliaments, a more stable presidency and a single foreign affairs representative. On EU enlargement, he considers that Turkey in not European, but supports a special EU-Turkey partnership.
Environment: Minister Jean-Louis Borloo is second in the protocol order and has a huge portfolio. The fight against global warning is a key priority for the new President. He sees a necessity to go beyond Kyoto and to emphasize research into future energy technologies.
Security: The US is a fundamental partner, France’s oldest ally and friend, and in international circles we may disagree without being disagreeable. An EU defence force would not be in opposition to NATO. France has 1,000 troops in Afghanistan (out of Europe’s 18,000) and will continue to support its NATO allies.
Middle East is our neighbourhood where there are several interrelated crises. Iran faces a choice between tougher sanctions or cooperation with the global community.
Africa: French ODA is increasing steadily and is currently around 0.50%. Bernard Kouchner was recently in Darfur and a major international ministerial meeting on Darfur took place in Paris at which Peter MacKay represented Canada. We need to find a humanitarian and political solution with the support of a mixed African Union-United Nations intervention force.
Human rights: "France will support world’s brutalized women, children and hostages".
Canada: Nicolas Sarkozy and Stephen Harper met in Paris before the recent G8 Summit in Heilegendamm, Germany. The two countries are on the same page on many issues. However, Canada’s environmental policy remains a concern for France. Several members of the new government know Canada well and see it as an inspiring example on issues such as budget and immigration policy as well as state reform.
Questions
Questions from the audience were numerous and included questions on the following topics: the balance between military force and development in Afghanistan, French identity and the concept of ‘decent accommodation’, multiculturalism and immigration, the Common Agricultural Policy and the WTO, and EU enlargement.
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