As expected, in the second round of the presidential election on May 5th, 2002, Jacques Chirac comfortably defeated Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extremist, right-wing National Front. Chirac won by the largest margin (82% to 19%) ever recorded in the second round of a French presidential election; at the same time, abstention reached a record level of 20%.

The ensuing legislative elections proved to be a victory for the center-right and a reversal of the 1997 elections. The center-right coalition party won 399 out of 577 seats in the National Assembly, thereby securing for Chirac and his party a majority in the government. Meanwhile, the combined left--Socialists (PS), Communists (PCF) and Greens--took only 178. The extreme-right National Front, despite the infamous second-place finish of its leader Le Pen in the April/May 2002 presidential election, won no seats. Abstention at 39% set a new record. In March 2004 regional elections, however, Chiracís party lost control of all but one region, while the Socialists scored major gains. The Union for Popular Movement (UMP)--center-right coalition party--won only 16.6% of the vote in the June 2004 European Parliament elections.

Experts have called on France to reduce government spending, the budget deficit, and public debt, and to allow flexibility in the implementation of the 35-hour work week. Mounting pressure for short- and long-term reforms include more labor-market flexibility, less taxation, and an improved business climate, including further privatization and liberalization. French and EU analysts stress that longer-term measures must focus on reducing the future burden of ballooning public pension and health care budgets, as well as reducing labor-related taxes. Government action to initiate such reforms may have contributed to the center-rightís poor showing in the 2004 regional and European Parliamentary elections, and continues to spark periodic strikes and work stoppages throughout France.