at
Élysée Palace on inauguration day, 15 May 2012 in May 2015 Hollande was inaugurated on 15 May 2012, and shortly afterwards appointed
Jean-Marc Ayrault to be his
Prime Minister. He was the first Socialist Party president since François Mitterrand left office in 1995. The President of the French Republic is one of the two
joint heads of state of the Principality of
Andorra. Hollande hosted a visit from
Antoni Martí,
head of the government, and
Vicenç Mateu Zamora, leader of the
parliament. He also appointed
Benoît Puga to be the military's chief of staff,
Pierre-René Lemas as his general secretary and Pierre Besnard as his Head of Cabinet. Hollande's full Council of Ministers became the first ever in France to show gender parity, with 17 men and 17 women, and each member was required to sign a new "code of ethics" that placed significant restrictions on their conduct and compensation, above that of existing law. The first measure enacted by the new government was to lower the salaries of the President, the Prime Minister, and other members of the government by 30%. The tax plan proved controversial, with courts ruling it unconstitutional in 2012, only to then take the opposite position on a redrafted version in 2013. Hollande had also announced several reforms to education, pledging to recruit 60,000 new teachers, to create a study allowance and means-tested training, and to set up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newly hired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs. This was complemented by the promise of aid to
SMEs, with the creation of a public bank investment-oriented SME's, and a reduction of the
corporate tax rate to 30% for medium corporations and 15% for small. Hollande's government has announced plans to construct 500,000 public homes per year, including 150,000
social houses, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the
Livret A, the
region making available its
local government land within five years. In accordance with long-standing Socialist Party policy, Hollande has announced that the
retirement age will revert to 60, for those who have
contributed for more than 41 years.
Marriage and adoption for same-sex couples Hollande has also announced his personal support for
same-sex marriage and
adoption for LGBT couples, and outlined plans to pursue the issue in early 2013. In July 2012, Prime Minister
Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that "In the first half of 2013, the right to marriage and adoption will be open to all couples, without discrimination", confirming this election promise by Hollande. The bill to legalise same-sex marriage, known as Bill no. 344, was introduced to the
National Assembly on 7 November 2012. On 12 February 2013, the National Assembly approved the bill in a 329–229 vote. The Right-wing opposed the bill. The
Senate approved the full bill with a 171–165 majority on 12 April with minor amendments. On 23 April, the National Assembly approved the amended bill, in a 331–225 vote, and following approval of the law by the
Constitutional Council of France, it was signed into law by President Hollande on 18 May 2013, with the first same-sex weddings under the law taking place eleven days later.
Labour reform , 2016 As President, Hollande pursued labour reform to make France more competitive internationally. Legislation for this, introduced in late 2012, after much debate passed the French lower and upper house in May 2013. The bill included measures such as making it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees. One of the main measures of the bill allowed companies to temporarily cut workers' salaries or hours during times of economic difficulty. This measure took its inspiration from Germany, where
furloughs have been credited with allowing companies to weather difficult times without resorting to massive layoffs. Layoffs in France are often challenged in courts and the cases can take years to resolve. Many companies cite the threat of lengthy court action – even more than any financial cost – as the most difficult part of doing business in France. The law shortens the time that employees have to contest a layoff and also lays out a scheme for severance pay. The government hopes this will help employees and companies reach agreement faster in contentious layoffs. Another key measure introduced was credits for training that follow employees throughout their career, regardless of where they work, and the right to take a leave of absence to work at another company. The law will also require all companies to offer and partially pay for supplemental health insurance. Lastly, the law also reforms unemployment insurance, so that someone out of work doesn't risk foregoing significant benefits when taking a job that might pay less than previous work or end up only being temporary. Under the new law, workers will be able to essentially put benefits on hold when they take temporary work, instead of seeing their benefits recalculated each time.
Foreign affairs in Tokyo on 7 June 2013 As President, Hollande promised an early withdrawal of French combat troops present in Afghanistan in 2012. He also pledged to conclude a new contract of
Franco-German partnership, advocating the adoption of a
Directive on the protection of public services. Hollande has proposed "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters, and the establishment of a common military headquarters". As well as this, Hollande has expressed a wish to "combine the positions of the presidents of the
European Commission and of the
European Council (currently held by
José Manuel Barroso and
Herman Van Rompuy respectively) into a single office [...] and that it should be directly chosen" by the
members of the European Parliament. The intervention was popularly supported in Mali, as Hollande promised that his government would do all it could to "rebuild Mali". During his one-day visit to
Bamako, Mali's capital, on 2 February 2013, he said that it was "the most important day in [his] political life". In 2014, Hollande took some of these troops out of Mali and spread them over the rest of the Sahel under
Operation Barkhane, in an effort to curb jihadist militants. On 27 February 2014, Hollande was a special guest of honor in Abuja, received by Nigerian President
Goodluck Jonathan in celebration of Nigeria's amalgamation in 1914, a 100-year anniversary. In July 2014, Hollande expressed support for
Israel's right to defend itself during the
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, and told Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, "France strongly condemns these aggressions [by Hamas]." summit, 11–12 February 2015 In September 2015, Hollande warned former
Eastern Bloc countries against rejecting the
EU mandatory migrant quotas, saying: "Those who don't share our values, those who don't even want to respect those principles, need to start asking themselves questions about their place in the European Union". in Paris on 21 July 2016 Hollande supported the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, re-supplying the Saudi military. France authorised $18 billion (€16 billion) in arms sales to
Saudi Arabia in 2015. In 2014, French bank
BNP Paribas agreed to pay an $8.9 billion fine, the largest ever for violating
U.S. sanctions against Iran at that time. In October 2016, Hollande said: "When the (European) Commission goes after Google or digital giants which do not pay the taxes they should in Europe, America takes offence. And yet, they quite shamelessly demand 8 billion from BNP or 5 billion from Deutsche Bank."
Approval ratings An IFOP poll released in April 2014 showed that Hollande's approval rating had dropped five points since the previous month of March to 18%, dipping below his earlier low of 20% in February during the same year. In November 2014, his approval rating reached a new low of 12%, according to a YouGov poll. Following the
Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, however, approval for Hollande increased dramatically, reaching 40% according to an IFOP poll two weeks after the attack, though an Ipsos-Le Point survey in early February showed his rating declining back to 30%. Hollande ultimately registered the least popularity for a president of the
French Fifth Republic. In September 2014, his approval rating was down to 13% according to an IFOP/JDD survey. One year before the end of his mandate, in April 2016, his approval rating was placed at 14%, and surveys predicted that if he were to run for a second term, he would be defeated in the first round of the
2017 presidential elections. In November 2016, a poll found Hollande's approval rating to be just 4%. On 8 May 2012, Hollande took part in the commemorations of the end of the Second World War, alongside Nicolas Sarkozy, following the latter's invitation. On 10 May 2012, the Constitutional Council announced the official results of the presidential election; and on 15 May 2012, the transfer of power took place. == Post-presidential life ==