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Sarkozy sparks controversy

Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked controversy yet again, by announcing his intention to rationalise the French state...

Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked controversy yet again, by announcing his intention to rationalise the French state – only for once, the majority of critics are claiming that the president has been overly cautious. The president has come up with a package of 150 measures that are designed to deliver total savings of €7bn by 2011, which is equivalent to 2% of state spending.

However, Sarkozy’s critics remain sceptical as to whether this will allow France to meet the 2012 deadline set by the EU, by which France must get its spiralling debt under control. The government has confirmed that it will not be replacing a proportion of those civil servants that retire between 2009 and 2011. Plans are also in place to restructure the civil service by carefully defining the various functions of government bodies and eliminating duplication.

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