Translated material
"Puppet" emerges from the shadows
The French are for an alliance with the United States and dialogue with Russia
Francois Fillon, the French prime minister and friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy, spoke yesterday with a detailed government program before the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. In his first public speech as prime minister, Fillon spoke for more than two hours about the reforms that Sarkozy promised to carry out “to revive France.”The state of the country's economy is unsatisfactory and needs a “sober analysis,” the prime minister said. To boost the economy, it is necessary to reduce taxes and change labor laws to encourage overtime work. It was promised not to increase the costs of maintaining bureaucrats starting next year. And the released funds should be used for housing construction (120 thousand houses per year) and the modernization of educational institutions - 5 billion euros over five years, during the same period to reduce the unemployment rate from the current almost 10 to 5%.
There are three important goals in foreign policy: “Thwart the plans of terrorists who intend to provoke a clash of civilizations, ensure that states that violate the rules of nuclear access and use of the atom abandon their plans, and provide all countries with reliable and equitable access to energy resources.” resources."
In conditions when the threat to the country’s vital interests is intensifying, it is necessary to actively develop relations with all partners: “France has the opportunity to act within the framework of both the European Union and the traditional alliance with the United States, without causing the slightest damage to its independence, nor to the constructive and based on trust in dialogue with Russia.” A contribution to the construction of a united Europe will be the consideration by the French Parliament at the beginning of 2008 of a new “lightweight” constitutional treaty on the principles of functioning of the European Union.
The entire French press noted that 53-year-old Fillon had finally emerged from the shadow of 52-year-old Sarkozy, an imperious and active leader. The left-wing Libération called the prime minister’s speech his “finest hour.” Nevertheless, the opposition, represented by the socialists, who lost the presidential and parliamentary elections in the spring and summer of this year, continues to make fun of the “puppet prime minister.” “The only thing that needed to be confirmed with a lengthy keynote speech was to test Monsieur Fillon’s ability to recite by heart the new Law of God,” said French MEP Benoit Hamon .
Despite this, the prime minister called for a “break with clan reflexes”: change will become possible if the right-wing government, into which he invited leftists and centrists, remains “open” and the parliamentary minority turns “from a rival into a necessary opponent.” Fillon also announced the creation of “a commission of super-competent individuals and representatives of all political views” to develop proposals for improving government institutions: “Not a single topic will be banned.”
The government program will most likely be approved by the National Assembly, whose session will last until early August. After all, as a result of the June elections, Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement party received an absolute majority in parliament - 313 out of 577 mandates.