French leader Francois Hollande's new Socialist government got down to work today with the first order of business a symbolic 30% pay cut for the president and ministers.
With the cabinet set to hold its first meeting, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the top item on the agenda would be the salary cut, a Hollande campaign promise that the premier said was about "setting an example".
The move was aimed at drawing a clear distinction between Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose salary famously increased by 170% to $24,000 per month after he took office in 2007.
Senior ministers meanwhile said the government's first concern would be to tackle the European debt crisis and push Hollande's vow to shift the European Union's economic focus from austerity to growth.
"The priority is to disentangle the crisis in Europe," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told news channel BFMTV. "I am profoundly European but we need a different Europe, a Europe that is much more focused on jobs."
Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici reiterated that Paris would not ratify the EU's fiscal austerity pact if it does not include measures to boost growth.
"What has been said quite clearly is that the treaty will not be ratified as is and that it must be completed with a chapter on growth, with a growth strategy," Moscovici told BFMTV.
Moscovici also gave assurances that the Socialists would keep public finances under control.
"We must reorient the reconstruction of Europe, but not by turning our backs on budget discipline," he added.
"I want to be very clear, Francois Hollande has said it repeatedly, we must tackle the public debt, reduce deficits, and secure France's situation. That is fundamental, a country that runs up debt is a country that is getting poorer."
Hollande, who defeated right-winger Sarkozy in a May 6 vote, yesterday unveiled a government of mainly moderate Socialists and longtime allies.
Fabius, 65, was prime minister under France's last Socialist president Francois Mitterrand between 1984 and 1986, while 54-year-old Moscovici was Hollande's campaign chief during the race.
