It will be complicated to introduce broad reforms in the next 12 months. In France there is room for reform but reforms need time to be explained.

This is a setback. We're returning to classical approaches against unemployment and youth unemployment.

France is back.

A nation of monkeys with the throat of parrots. [Fr., Une natione de singes a larynx de parroquets.]

I am not shy. I am for an open society. I am for a progressive world. I do not propose to reform France; I propose to transform it at its deepest level.

It is clear to everybody that France needs reform. Our unemployment is too high, particularly among the young, but employers fear that once people are taken on staff it becomes very difficult and expensive to lay them off in a downturn, so we need labor market flexibility.