Chirac aims to lower France unemployment

PARIS --President Jacques Chirac urged France on Tuesday to modernize its labor laws and bring the jobless rate below 8 percent next year -- but said the government should consult the people before making any bold moves.

In setting the 8 percent unemployment goal, Chirac said: "Our ambition should go farther than that. It should be to free our country from mass unemployment."

Unemployment in August stood at 9 percent, and has been generally declining for the past 16 months. Youth jobless rates remain much higher, at 21.6 percent for those under 25.

Reducing unemployment has been such a high priority for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government that he rushed a youth jobs law through parliament earlier this year with disastrous consequences.

Students and unions took to the streets in weeks of swelling protests and forced Chirac to withdraw the measure. Protesters were as angry at the law itself -- which would have made it easier to fire young workers -- as the way the government rammed it through without public debate.

On Tuesday, Chirac announced a new reform plan that stemmed from that debacle. It would require the government to consult workers and unions before drafting any new employment bills. The plan, which must be approved by parliament, would also require a waiting period before a reform is put into place.

Chirac, speaking to a think tank specializing in economic and labor affairs, said the plan should not put a brake on reforms, and urged the government to "pursue the modernization of the labor code."

"Our businesses absolutely need more flexibility," he said. But "that should not translate into more insecurity for workers."

He said that the government should be more in touch with its voters, but added: "Unions must free themselves from an old protest tradition that leads too often to confrontation and to conservatism."

Tuesday's speech was part of a series of appearances by Chirac aimed at influencing French governance and France's direction in the coming months -- before the campaign for next year's presidential elections gets into full swing. Chirac is not expected to run for a third term.