Not in the constitution, but I would propose a law to the French parliament that provides for reducing the budget deficit year by year, until we have reached a balanced budget by 2017.

What the French want is coherence, stability and justice. If I am in a favorable position today, it's because my fellow citizens want to make the effort to straighten out the country, and at the same time they want it to be just and equitable.

My goal is to put France back on its feet. I have to put this country back on its feet.

What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States. They should not be changed because of what has happened. But trust has to be restored and reinforced.

I am the president of the youth of France.

An education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home.

Is France a northern European export powerhouse, or a Mediterranean indebted and dependent economy? Yes to both.