SIDEBAR: Sarkozy's presidency: What he promised, what he achieved

Feb 15, 2012, 16:56 GMT

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will announce his intention to seek reelection in a television interview Wednesday evening.

Following is a recap of some of his key 2007 campaign promises and his progress on implementing them.

-- Pay: 'Work more to earn more': it was the cornerstone of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign. The government cut income tax and social security contributions on overtime. Five years later, faced with the need to increase revenue, the government scrapped the tax break.

-- Public debt: 'I undertake to bring the (public debt) down to under 60 per cent of GDP by 2012.' The debt is expected to reach 89 per cent of gross domestic product this year.

-- Employment: 'France can reach full employment - that is, an unemployment rate of under 5 per cent - within five years.' The latest figures, for December 2011, show unemployment at close to 10 per cent.

-- Pensions: 'The pension age will remain at 60.' Three years later, the government pushed through an increase of the minimum pension age to 62.

-- Education: 'I will give universities who want it real autonomy'. A promise kept: Sarkozy pushed through reforms giving universities more leeway to run their faculties along the lines of a business.

-- The 'banlieues': Sarkozy promised a Marshall Plan for troubled high-rise neighbourhoods, including massive investment in housing and job training. 'Everyone will have a job or be given training,' he said. The promise was not kept. On the housing front, dilapidated towers have been demolished in some places and new units built.