French President Defends Record as Economy Struggles

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/francois-hollande-of-france-defends-his-record.html

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PARIS — President François Hollande defended his government and his own performance in a lengthy and wide-ranging news conference on Tuesday, the first of his tenure, saying that he and his colleagues were moving decisively and transparently in the face of a bad economic situation.

“The situation is serious,” he said. The French elections brought “a change of power,” he said, “not a change of reality.” And he insisted that his prime goals for his five-year term were to reduce unemployment and promote economic growth.

Speaking for nearly two and a half hours, including a 45-minute opening statement, Mr. Hollande used the news conference to announce that his government recognized the main umbrella group for the Syrian opposition, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the sole legal representative of the Syrian people.

And Mr. Hollande defended his relationship with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, even after his finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, complained of “French bashing” in the German news media. Mr. Hollande said that he and Ms. Merkel had respectful relations with the “common goal of advancing Europe,” and that they discussed their disagreements openly. He also said, with a slight smile, that he understood that Ms. Merkel was preparing for an election campaign of her own.

One topic they disagree on is Greece, and the call by the International Monetary Fund for Greece to be given more time to reach its debt-reduction targets and for fellow European nations to reduce Greece’s public debt burden.

Mr. Hollande spoke sympathetically of the Greeks and their long economic recession, saying they had done all that was asked of them. As for the question of more time, he said, that remained to be discussed by European leaders. About restructuring Greek public debt, he chose to say nothing.

“The Greek Parliament has just adopted a very tough plan,” he said. “Greece expects in return the support of Europe and of the International Monetary Fund. It was promised this support, and I believe that beyond finalizing any technical modalities, it is entitled to this support, to put an end to what may have been a doubt about the integrity of the euro zone.”

On the subject of Mali, Mr. Hollande said that the capture of the northern half of the country by Islamic radicals posed a clear and present terrorist danger to France and to Europe. He said that France would not intervene militarily in Mali, though it would offer training, supplies and support to Malian and other African troops who intend to mount an offensive to drive the radicals out of the north, presumably before the rainy season begins in March and makes movement there very difficult.

“We want the Africans to prepare it themselves,” he said. While France and Europe would help, “in no case” would France itself use military means in Mali.

On domestic issues, Mr. Hollande said he read the polls, as other people do, but that it was his job to run the country. He is working to reduce public debt, reduce the tax burden on companies and promote employment, while keeping his promise to cut France’s budget deficit to 3 percent of economic output in 2013.

“Decline is not our destiny,” he said, appealing to the French to come together and pay increased taxes to get the country out of its current hole. He called on trade unions and companies to negotiate “a historic bargain” to ease confrontational labor relations and reduce barriers to hiring. If they do not, he said, the government will act on its own.

As for himself, “I can understand the doubts that have been expressed,” Mr. Hollande said. “The only valid question in my eyes is not the state of public opinion today, but the state of France in five years’ time.”

He portrayed himself as a man speaking honestly to the French, a man who values “simplicity,” respects institutions and wants to let his prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, get on with the day-to-day work of governing. Mr. Hollande has been mocked for calling himself a “normal president,” but when asked by a journalist if France was “detoxifying itself from fossil fuels,” he said: “I don’t want to detoxify myself of anything; I have no addiction. You may have noticed: normal president, responsible president, no addiction to any substance.”