Sarkozy's reform challenges

President Nicolas Sarkozy's resolve to undertake wide-ranging reforms will be put to the test in 2008, ensuring that the year ahead will be a crucial one for the future of France.

The obstacles to his agenda do not come so much from the left-wing political opposition as from the direct action of key groups of workers and the difficult budgetary conditions under which his government will be operating.

The main institutional reforms concern the justice system and the constitution:

• Two reforms are currently under way: a major prison-building programme and a rationalisation plan, which entails the closure of some courts and tribunals.
• In July, Sarkozy appointed a committee on constitutional reform, which should report early in 2008. The reforms are expected to move some way towards a US-style system: a clearer acknowledgement that the president heads the government; a downgraded role for the prime minister; provision for a 'state of the union' address from the president to parliament; greater scrutiny of legislation by parliament; and a limitation on the common French practice of multiple elective office-holding. To get the required 60% majority across the two chambers of parliament for constitutional reform, Sarkozy will be forced to compromise or even abandon some measures altogether.

Even if Sarkozy is prepared to negotiate over his ambitious yet controversial reforms, the current state of public finances will severely limit his ability to make concessions.