By Ingrid Melander
PARIS (Reuters) – Valerie Pecresse, candidate for the conservative Les Republicains party, was seen as a a strong challenger for the French presidency, but she has struggled to find enough votes between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and the far right.
Here are her main policy proposals https://valeriepecresse.fr/projets:
ECONOMY:
* End the 35-hour work week
* Raise the retirement age to 65 from 62
* Cut 150,000 public sector jobs
* Reduce the deficit by 42 billion euros by 2027
IMMIGRATION/ASYLUM:
* Immigration quotas per country and per type of job
* No automatic right to French citizenship for those born in France of foreign parents
* Ban women accompanying children on school trips from wearing a Muslim headscarf
* Close down mosques whose preacher is hostile to France
SECURITY:
* Stiffen judicial sentences in tough neighbourhoods
* Cut red tape in the judicial system
* Create 20,000 more prison beds
EDUCATION/FAMILY:
* Step up sanctions for insulting or assaulting a teacher
* Give more autonomy to headmasters
* Give family allowances to all parents, independently of income
* Increase the threshold for tax-free donations to children
FOREIGN POLICY:
* Re-establish a “constructive dialogue” with the United States
* “Strategic and firm dialogue” with China
* Pro-EU and pro-NATO
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY:
* Back plans for a European carbon tax at the EU’s borders
* Build at least six new nuclear reactors to help meet greenhouse emission targets
(Compiled by Ingrid Melander and Makini Brice; Editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Heavens)
