Now since France has three times in sixty years failed to obtain practical results from Political revolutions, all Europe is apt to press forward into new Social doctrine to regulate the future.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
France will insist on the need for updated and responsive institutions.
Having viewed Europe as an extension and projection of itself, France now finds Europe developing a mind and identity of its own which embraces France but is not controlled by France.
We find ourselves in a difficult situation in Europe. There's a crisis, weak growth, unemployment... my duty is to ensure that by the end of my mandate France is in a better state than it was at the beginning.
France is no longer herself when she is folded in on herself, tormented by ignorance and intolerance. The country would plunge into decline if it refused to be itself, if it was afraid of the future, afraid of the world.
We need the help of other member countries and leaders who, like us, want to see a change in Europe's direction. That's also my logic when I tell voters that electing me president will not only shape France's future, but also initiate change across all of Europe.
France has to reform, to recover, and get more competitiveness.
To be influential in tomorrow's world, to defend our values and our development model, France needs Europe and Europe needs France.
In every European nation, there have been problems in history when the society was too divided.
France is the bridge between northern Europe and southern Europe. I refuse any division. If Europe has been reunified, it's not for it to then fall into egotism or 'each for one's own'. Our duty is to set common rules around the principles of responsibility and solidarity.
The French Revolution is the ultimate modernist statement. Destroy everything. Don't build on the past. There is no past.