Nicolas Sarkozy said he could see a wave rising. For once he was right. The wave's coming; it's high, its strong, and it's going to smack him in the face.

Mandela's message will never die. It will continue to inspire freedom fighters and give confidence to people who defend just causes and universal rights.

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.

Germany and France are pinning their hopes on young people, in terms of education, science and innovation.

I would like a UK fully engaged in Europe, but I can't decide in place of the British. I see that for the moment they want to be more in retreat.

My obligation, if I become president, is to give another direction to Europe than the one that is being forced upon us today.

A large country with such outstanding economic performance as Germany cannot forget that it owes some of its success to demand from other European countries.