CNN.com - French PM stands firm on jobs law

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- France's Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has refused to bow to demands that he repeal a controversial youth labor law that has stirred mass protests and threatened his political future, saying he will "fight to the end."

Villepin told a press conference that he wanted students who have been at the core of million-strong street demonstrations to return to their studies.

"It is time to get out of the crisis," he said, according to the Associated Press.

His comments offered no concessions to trades unions and student groups who, buoyed by the success of the nationwide strikes, have issued an ultimatum to scrap the law by April 15.

Villepin defended his efforts to ram through the law that makes it easier to hire and fire young workers.

The prime minister, whose popularity has plummeted during the protests, appeared to put his career on the line over the jobs law.

Asked whether he would resign, he said he would lead a battle for jobs "until the end", Reuters reported.

"The immediate priority, as we all know, is restoring calm. It is time to get out of the crisis and rediscover the serenity and unity of the whole country," he said, according to AP.

With students continuing protests on Thursday, Villepin urged them back to their lectures.

"Everyone should be able to prepare and sit their exams normally," he said, according to AP.

The prime minister has been largely sidelined in efforts to resolve problems over the law -- which makes it easier to for employers to hire and fire young workers --with President Jacques Chirac promising to amend the legislation and putting his own party in charge of negotiations.

The law, signed Sunday by French President Jacques Chirac but not yet implemented, would allow employers to hire and fire workers 26-years-old and under for any reason during the first two years of their first job contract.

The French parliament must still debate and pass those amendments to the "first jobs contract" law or CPE, as it is called in French.

Villepin proposed and pushed the law through the French parliament with little debate following riots last fall.

Those riots were staged by young people who said they had little or no hope of finding jobs, and Villepin said France had to do something to address the aspirations of young people.

Because of strong worker protection laws, workers in France are difficult and expensive to fire. As a result, employers are reluctant to expand their payrolls and unemployment in France remains around 10 percent.

Unemployment among young people has averaged 23 percent. In the poor neighborhoods of many French cities the unemployment rate among young people has topped 50 percent.

Chirac has attempted to cast the law not only as an attempt to cut unemployment but as a demonstration that French society can change to meet the demands of a global marketplace.

Many French economists doubt that the generous social welfare system -- under which the taxes on the wages of young workers pay for the benefits of older workers and retirees -- can be sustained in the future.

However, that debate has, so far, been lost in the uproar over what is being seen as strong-arm tactics by the UMP, which has a majority in both the Senate and National Assembly.

The demonstrations have galvanized the left wing in French politics, giving the Socialist Party a popular focus after years of domination by right-wing politicians led by Chirac.

CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley says the furor over the law could cast a shadow over Villepin's future, at the expense of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who as head of Chirac's UMP party, has taken over negotiations and emerged as Villepin's main rival.

"For Sarkozy, it's a deciding moment. Villepin, who drove through this law has really been deserted by President Chirac, but it is very much in the court of Nicolas Sarkozy now," he said.

French PM stands firm on jobs law

Villepin says he will see legislation through 'to the end'

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