The 2007 French presidential election seen from abroad: the Anglo-Saxon perspective

Résumé du document

France has been ranked high among the greatest global powers and is the Euro zone's second biggest member, and the home to ten of Europe's fifty biggest private firms. Its healthcare system is one of the world's most efficient. Moreover, France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the world's sixth economy. However, France has to fight against its own economic falling of for years and has difficulty for reforming and explaining why the 2007 presidential elections catches the eye of the whole world. France seems to be confronted with many economic problems and is facing a paradoxical situation. The over-protected job market slowed down economic growth and rated it below the OECD (Organization for Europe Cooperation and Development) average.

Extraits

[...] However, what pleads most in his favour is his admiration for the Anglo-Saxon economic system. His visit to London in January 2007, for instance, shows how he is impressed by the British economic success. The economic development experienced by the United Kingdom starting from the eighties, proved that liberalism is able to make the system efficient, and, especially, to reduce unemployment. While French people are usually opposed to the Anglo-Saxon liberal model, Nicolas Sarkozy dares to praise it, even if some people say he's neo-conservative American with a French passport IV) A special relationship: Nicolas Sarkozy and the French The encounter between the French will for change and Sarkozy's will to embody a rupture explains his historical success (53 versus the biggest margin in forty years, except for 2002). [...]

[...] The 2007 French presidential election seen from abroad: the Anglo-Saxon perspective Introduction Nowadays, France is facing a paradoxical situation, seen from abroad. France still ranks among the greatest global powers. It is the Euro-zone's second biggest member, the home of ten of Europe's fifty biggest private firms, its healthcare system is one of the world's most efficient. Moreover, France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the world's sixth economy. However, France has to fight against its own economic falling of for years and his difficulty for reforming, explaining therefore why the 2007 presidential election catches the eye of the whole world. [...]

[...] Facing this leftization François Bayrou's centre emerged. His two main arguments, to bridge the left-right divide are to decrease public spending and to fight the unemployment, by creating two jobs free of payroll charges in each firm. Yet, he also wants to increase the social charges and to renationalise and mix EDF and GDF, which seems to run counter to what is advocated by the most liberal. III) Sarkozy, faute de mieux So, faute de mieux the candidate Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be the best of the bunch. [...]

[...] Sarkozy's moment, in The Economist, May 12th 2007, p Patriot Gains, in Time, May 21st 2007, p The French way of reform, in Time, May 1st 2006, A Grand Entrance, in Time, September 7th 2007, p. 35-38. The Gaullist revolutionary, in The Economist, May 12th 2007, p. 24-26. France faces the future, in The Economist, April 1st 2006, p. 9-10. Colbert was here, in The Economist, March 25th 2006, p France's chance, in The Economist, April 14th 2007, p Colbert was here, in The Economist, March 25th 2006, p. 65. [...]

[...] Therefore, this situation seems unbelievable considered from abroad. Whereas countries like the UK, Spain or Germany have reformed to be competitive, nothing seems to have changed in France since 1981 (and the election of François Mitterrand as president). The solutions mainly for the Anglo-Saxons are easy: liberalize the job market, by decreasing taxation and increasing the working week, and cut public spending. Politicians are also criticized for their ineffectiveness, which has been demonstrated by recent events: the suburban riots, the rejection of the EU constitution and the protests against the CPE. [...]