Each country has a soul, and France's soul is equality.

I gave myself an objective, to be the second president from Correze and finally to be the successor to Francois Mitterrand.

During a term in office there are highs and lows, but what counts is that the goal is set as well as the means to achieve it, and the force we put into getting results.

Today, Paris is the capital of the world.

I attach the greatest importance to an amplification of the peace efforts in the Middle East. I would also like to see a greater dialogue between the U.S. and the EU.

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.

Austerity need not be Europe's fate.