French president defends economic policy

15 Jul 2012, 9:09 am   -   Source: AAP
Francois Hollande says it is

Francois Hollande says it is "too easy" to blame high labour costs for French unemployment. (AAP)

Francois Hollande says it is "too easy" to blame high labour costs for French unemployment, while admitting that France has a "competitiveness problem".

French President Francois Hollande has defended his economic policy in the face of mounting job cuts and vowed to enforce a strict separation between his public and private life in a television interview on Bastille Day.

The interview with France 2 and TF1 television, aired on Saturday, is a French National Day tradition that Hollande resurrected after a five-year hiatus.

Two days after the announcement by the country's biggest carmaker, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, that it would cut 8000 jobs, Hollande was thrust onto the defensive over his economic program.

Hollande said the job cuts and planned closure by PSA of a factory in Paris were "unacceptable" and called for the plan to be renegotiated.

"The state will not let it go," Hollande said, accusing the company of deliberately sitting on the redundancy plan until his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy was voted out of office two months ago.

PSA blamed the cuts on falling demands for cars in crisis-hit Europe and on France's high labour costs.

Hollande said it was "too easy" to blame high labour costs for French unemployment, while admitting France had a "competitiveness problem" and that it was "not normal" that the country's generous social protection system be funded uniquely by labour.

"We will ensure that there are other elements," he said.

He remained evasive about how France intended to meet its target of a three per cent budget deficit in 2013.

"There are 33 billion euros ($A40 billion) to be found in 2013. We will find them," he said.

Hollande also spoke publicly for the first time about the scandal triggered by a tweet from his partner, Valerie Trierweiler.

Trierweiler caused Hollande acute embarrassment during the country's parliamentary election by sending a message of support for a political rival of his former partner and mother of his children, Segolene Royal. Royal was ultimately beaten in the race for the legislative seat.

Hollande and Royal's son, Thomas Hollande, reignited the controversy this week by criticising Trierweiler in remarks reported by Le Point magazine.

"I consider that private matters must be resolved in private," the elder Hollande said, adding he had instructed those close to him to "scrupulously respect" the principle.

Earlier, thousands of people had lined the Champs-Elysees for the parade by almost 5000 members of the army, air force and marine and civil defence, which showcased a selection of hardware and included a flypast by dozens of aircraft.

Hollande and Trierweiler later mingled with Parisians in the garden of the Elysee Palace. In the past, select guests were invited to the annual Elysee garden party. Sarkozy scrapped the party in 2010.

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