Sarkozy defends one-year record
The president admits he has ‘made errors’ but says people should judge his reforms at the end of his five year term.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has defended his record as a reformer in a TV interview to mark his first year in power.
The president said that while previous governments had brought occasional reforms or done nothing, he had already brought in 55.
However he stressed his success should be judged at the end of his five-year term.
France had “gone to sleep, a bit in the last 25 years” in comparison with other nations and could no longer be complacent about its position in the world’s top economies without renewed efforts, he said.
While he acknowledged the possibility of re-election, Sarkozy said he was not looking any further than the next four years. “By the end of my five years I want people to say – he made the changes the country needed,” the president said.
Although he admitted he had not explained himself properly and “no doubt made some errors,” he said rising oil prices and the world economy were part of the reason why people had not seen rapid improvements in purchasing power – one of his key campaign issues.
As to the UMP’s defeat in the municipal elections he claimed this was the trend for all European ruling parties.
Asked if his controversial private life had negative effects on his first year, he said: “I find that people have talked about it a lot, and doubtless I have to take some responsibility for that. All the more reason not to talk about it tonight.” He insisted: “Everything is sorted out now.”
The president defended his decision to relax the 35-hour working week rules, saying people need to be rewarded for working more to boost the economy. He added that before he changed the law, civil servants were in the “unfair” situation of receiving less money for overtime hours than normal ones.
Sarkozy said he wanted to reduce unemployment to 5% at the end of his five years adding that it was already at 7.5%, the lowest for 25 years.
Penalties for those who stayed on the dole for long periods were among plans to reduce unemployment, he said, adding that people should not refuse two job offers which were suitable for their qualifications.
He would ensure that opting to work was always more profitable than staying on benefits and added that the long-term unemployed must consider work further from home or at a lower salary.
The president said French salaries were too low – which he blamed partly on the effect of short working weeks – and admitted social charges were still too high.
He said he would encourage people to combine their pension with more work as France had more inactive people in their 50s than most countries. People should also work 41 years for a state pension instead of 40, he added.
The president said he would be tough on companies which make unreasonable price increases, and added he was angry that prices in France were rising faster than in other countries.
Referring to recent protests by lycéens over planned teacher cuts, he said they were needed because there would be fewer pupils in coming years. Reforms like cutting the number of hours pupils spend at school, which he said were higher than in comparable countries, would balance out the reductions.
He confirmed his commitment to a balanced budget by 2012, saying he would stick to his policy of not replacing one retiring civil servant in two. However he added that the deficit dated back to 1974, and change could not come overnight.
Responding to rumours of a poor relationship with François Fillon, he said they were mistaken and he considered Fillon a good prime minister.
Photo: AFP Olivier Laban-Mattei
