Baku-APA. As dark clouded his first year in office with sharp slump in popularity and grim economic mood, French President Francois Hollande delivered an "offensive" speech Thursday to persuade discontent voters and anxious partners he can restore economy and create wealth, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
At a news conference marking his first year of governing, Hollande said understanding people's "distress" in a context of recession, but defended his policy that was aimed at restoring the country's financial credibility and will "allow France to be bigger and more harmonious," he said.
"The status quo, the immobility, it is a choice that I refused.... The second year (of rule) must be offensive," the president said.
"I'm the president at the worst time. But I assumed ... How will be the unemployment, the growth at the end of my term? On these results I ask to be judged at the end of five years," he added.
Defeating the conservative ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy on pledges to fix the domestic economic troubles, Hollande suffered a setback with few believe he can meet a promise to expand growth, trim public deficit and bring down the unemployment rate.
His approval ratings have slid faster than those of any other French president to as low as 22 percent as most of his pledges are in tatters.
This week, data showed that the 2.8-trillion-U.S.dollar economy slid into recession with a 0.2-percent decline reported in the first quarter of 2013 due to stalling households' purchasing power, poor industrial output and sluggish investment, provoking doubt on the government's financial targets.
"The challenge is to create growth, get out of the crisis and end the recession," he said, considering the two years granted by Brussels to trim the deficit to 3 percent as promised, "an opportunity for faster recovery in France and Europe."
Defying critics, Hollande stuck to reverse the joblessness curve by the end of 2013 by doing "....everything possible to reduce" the double digit rate.
"The struggle against jobless is long. To gain it, we must prepare France of the future so as the French regain confidence on their future," the president said admitting that this struggle can not be won without growth that he expected to stagnate in 2013.
With jobless hit 16-year high, Hollande said to extend the implementation of state-sponsored jobs to the private sector.
Looking to 2013, he wanted to create 100,000 jobs for the futures and 75,000 generations contracts via the fresh stimulus to reduce millions of jobseekers.
Hollande expressed his determination to make the Europe Union moving towards an integrated bloc.
"It is my responsibility as the leader of a founder member of the European Union... to pull Europe out of this torpor, and to reduce the alienation of people who can only jeopardize the future of the European Union," Hollande stressed.
"If Europe stays in the state it is now, the project falls, disappears from the map and even from the imagination of the people," he added.
To inject dynamism in the single-currency bloc that is sinking into recession, he called for the establishment of an economic government for euro zone as a step to further budgetary integration in the region.
In his biannual press meeting, Hollande also outlined his plans for an integrated European Union that includes 6 million euros (7.73 million U.S. dollars) for youth employment, an energy community focusing on developing renewable energy and further steps for budgetary integration in the euro zone.
Expecting resistance from Germany which opposes mutualizing debt among member states, French head of state pointed that Europe's main powerhouses, Paris and Berlin are both "indispensable for Europe."
Hollande, the Socialist president in 17 years, made it clear that he stands firm for more economic stimulus in Europe that helping deficit cut and reduce joblessness and solve the euro zone debt crisis on which Germany, which focused on austerity to tackle the crisis, should not have the only say.
"I repeat... The financial crisis is behind us. The causes have been curbed. What strikes Europe is the recession caused by austerity policies," the president said.
"France has managed to make the link between the North and South Europe," and to "make moving" the zone by introducing solidarity measures, setting a bank union and rescuing the debt-ridden economies, French president noted.
Talking about Mali donor conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Hollande said the intervention highlighted "France's major role" in Africa. He said Mali will hold elections on July 31 despite continued instability in northern region.
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