Paris, 16 May 2007
Ladies and gentlemen,
On
this day when I officially take up my
duties as President of the French
Republic, I’m thinking of France, this
venerable country which has gone through
so many ordeals and always picked itself
up, which has always spoken for all
mankind and which I now have the weighty
task of representing in the eyes of the
world.
I’m thinking of all the presidents of
the Fifth Republic who have preceded
me. I’m thinking of General de Gaulle
who twice saved the Republic, who gave
France back her sovereignty and the
State its dignity and authority. I’m
thinking of Georges Pompidou and Valéry
Giscard d’Estaing who, each in his own
way, did so much to take France into the
modern era.
I’m thinking of François Mitterrand, who
found the way to safeguard the
institutions and embody the changeover
of political power at a time when it was
becoming necessary for the Republic to
belong to all the French.
I’m thinking of Jacques Chirac who, for
12 years, worked for peace and projected
France’s universal values throughout the
world. I’m thinking of his role in
making mankind aware of the imminence of
the ecological disaster and of
everyone’s responsibility to the coming
generations.
But at such a solemn moment, my thoughts
go first to the French people, a great
people with a great history and who
stood up and declared their faith in
democracy, said they no longer wanted to
have no say. I’m thinking of the French
people who have always been able to
overcome ordeals courageously and find
in themselves the strength to transform
the world.
I’m thinking, with emotion, about this
expectation, this hope, this need to
believe in a better future which were
voiced so strongly during the campaign
which has just ended. I’m thinking
solemnly about the mandate the French
people have entrusted to me and the
extremely high imperative expressed by
them – I have no right to disappoint
them.
Imperative of bringing the French
together because France is strong only
when she is united, and today she needs
to be strong to take up the challenges
confronting her.
Imperative of keeping promises and
honouring commitments because trust has
never been as shaken, as fragile. A
moral imperative because never has the
crisis of values been as deep, because
never has the need for people to regain
their bearings been as strong.
Imperative of restoring the value of
work, of effort, of merit, of respect,
because these values underpin human
dignity and requirement for social
progress.
Imperative of tolerance and opening-up
because never have intolerance and
sectarianism been so destructive,
because never has it been so necessary
for all women and all men of goodwill to
pool their talents, their intellectual
skill, their ideas for conceiving the
future.
Imperative of change because never has
inertia been so dangerous for France as
in this world in flux where everyone
strives to change faster than the
others, where any delay can be fatal and
quickly becomes irretrievable.
Imperative of security and protection
because it has never been so necessary
to fight the fear of the future and
feeling of vulnerability which
discourage initiative and risk-taking.
Imperative for order and authority
because we have too often given in to
disorder and violence from which those
who suffer the greatest are the most
vulnerable and humble.
Imperative to deliver results because
the French have had enough of nothing in
their daily lives ever improving,
because the French have had enough of
their lives becoming ever tougher, ever
harder, because the French have had
enough of sacrifices being imposed on
them with no result.
Imperative of justice because for a very
long time so many French have not felt
such a strong sense of injustice, and
had the feeling that the sacrifices
weren't fairly shared, that everyone did
not have equal rights.
Imperative of breaking with past
behaviours, ways of thinking and
intellectual conformism because never
have the problems to be resolved been so
completely new.
The people have entrusted me with a
mandate. I shall fulfil it. I shall
fulfil it scrupulously, with the
determination to be worthy of the trust
the French have placed in me.
I
shall defend France's independence and
identity.
I
shall ensure respect for the State's
authority and its impartiality.
I
shall strive to build a Republic founded
on genuine rights and an irreproachable
democracy.
I
shall fight for a Europe which protects,
for the unity of the Mediterranean and
for the development of Africa.
I
shall make the defence of human rights
and battle against climate warming the
priorities of France's diplomatic action
in the world.
The task will be difficult and will have
to be long-term.
Every one of you in your official
position in the State and all citizens
in their positions in society are
destined to contribute to it.
I
want to express my conviction that in
the service of France there are no
sides. There is only the goodwill of
those who love their country. There are
only the skills, ideas and convictions
of those fired by their passion for
serving the general interest.
To
all those who want to serve their
country, I say that I am ready to work
with you and that I shall not ask them
to renounce their beliefs, betray their
friendships or forget their history. It
is for them to decide, in all conscience
as free men and women, how they want to
serve France.
On
6 May there was only one victory, that
of the France who doesn't want to die,
who wants order but also movement, who
wants progress, but wants fraternity,
who wants efficiency, but wants justice,
who wants identity, but wants an
opening-up.
On
6 May there was only one victor, the
French people who don’t want to give up,
who don’t want to be confined to inertia
and conservatism, who no longer want
others to decide for them, think for
them.
Well, to this France who wants to go on
living, to this people who don’t want to
give up, who deserve our love and our
respect, I want to express my
determination not to disappoint them.
Long live the Republic!
Long live France!