François Hollande has announced that he will not stand in the next presidential elections. The French head of state, whose popularity has now sunk to decidedly low levels, is thus throwing in the towel: it is the first time a sitting president has decided not to seek re-election. The Socialist politician is stepping aside at a moment when most polls credit him with extremely low approval ratings: between 7.5 and 10 per cent.

The success of Cop 21 and the Paris Agreement

Following the announcement, numerous French outlets drew up their own assessments of his five-year term. Perhaps the highest point of the presidency came in mid-December 2015, when the Paris Agreement was reached at the close of the twenty-first United Nations world climate conference. And this was notable not only for the goal itself, but for the French government's ability to focus global attention on the event — placing the climate question as an absolute priority on the international community's agenda.

Hollande and the shadows over the nuclear question

While Hollande's France deserves credit for playing a decisive role at Cop 21, and more broadly on the issue of combating climate change, the balance sheet in terms of domestic environmental policy looks far less encouraging. On nuclear energy, for instance, the closure of the country's oldest power stations had been expected: in particular the Fessenheim plant, considered one of the highest-risk by environmental organisations. Moreover, the governments of Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls, which succeeded one another under Hollande's presidency, all resolutely pursued the objective of building a new EPR reactor on the shores of the English Channel at Flamanville, despite the enormous costs, delays and financial problems of the constructor Areva.

Notre Dame des Landes, the airport of discord

It should be noted, however, that France has at least committed on paper to reducing to 50 per cent the share of energy produced by nuclear sites by 2025 (compared with 77 per cent in 2014). The decision formed part of the programme on which Hollande was elected. The deadline was set in the energy transition law adopted in August 2015, but delays accumulated in the development of renewable energy make it very difficult to achieve the target.

Hollande's five-year term will also be remembered for the fierce opposition to a series of major projects, above all the Notre Dame des Landes airport in Loire-Atlantique, and the Sivens dam, near which environmental activist Remy Fraisse lost his life.
Not to be forgotten, either, is the fact that NGOs also pointed the finger at France on the issue of coal, noting that despite its environmental commitments, two state-owned companies — EDF and GDF Suez (recently rebranded Engie) — still own as many as forty-six power stations around the world.

Unemployment still high, growth weak

On economic matters too, the Hollande presidency appears to have disappointed the French. In April 2014, the Élysée's occupant had announced he would make his candidacy conditional on a reversal in the unemployment curve. At that point, 3.6 million people in France were out of work — a figure that continued to rise until last February, reaching 3.85 million. Data from recent months have been more encouraging, but not enough to restore the president's image.
Economic growth, moreover, remains weak. After three quarters of recession between 2012 and 2013 and a further six months of stagnation, French GDP picked up again in 2014 and 2015. But in the second quarter of this year it fell back into negative territory, before posting a disappointing +0.2 per cent in the third quarter.

Marriage for all, euthanasia and citizenship

On the social front, the decision to introduce "marriage for all", which extended marriage to same-sex couples and provoked the fury of the right, certainly cannot go unmentioned. Hollande also had a law adopted that opened the door to euthanasia, effectively establishing the right to assisted suicide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig7Rwvwl1T8
It was the Socialist camp itself, however, that split over the proposal — put forward in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks — to enshrine the loss of citizenship in the Constitution, extending it to cover "dual nationals" (that is, those born French: currently the penalty can only be applied to those who acquired nationality subsequently). Strong opposition from within his own majority, which judged the measure to be essentially useless in the fight against terrorism, convinced him to abandon it at the end of March — after months of political attrition.

The clash with the unions over labour reform

The most significant confrontation with the unions came without doubt at the moment the labour code reform was tabled. A law proposed by Minister Myriam El Khomri, it marked the divorce between Hollande and workers' representatives. Every union, including the most moderate, strongly opposed the "French jobs act", which makes economic dismissal easier and relaxes the 35-hour working week (which was introduced under the Socialist presidency of François Mitterrand).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY2uOr6TyfQ

The Paris attacks, Mali, Syria

On foreign policy, finally, Hollande's five-year term was marked by numerous international crises. The withdrawal from Afghanistan, included in his 2012 programme, quickly faded into the background. In January 2013, France launched a military offensive in Mali to counter the advance of the Islamist fundamentalist group AQIM, an operation that ended in July 2014.

Then, in December 2013, French troops landed in the Central African Republic in support of President François Bozizé, threatened by the Seleka rebellion. Following the Paris attacks, the French air force was also deployed in Syria to fight alongside the international coalition battling the Islamic State organisation.