By Peggy Corlin - 9th April 2006
French youth labour reforms are to be replaced by measures tackling youth unemployment the Elysée announced on Monday.
After a month of massive protests, French president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Dominique de Villepin have decided to ditch the CPE youth employment law.
The new contract was widely attacked as introducing insecurity for youth by introducing a two-year trial period during which employers could terminate the job without explanation.
"I wanted to act very quickly because the dramatic situation and the despair of a number of young people warranted it,” De Villepin said.
“I wanted to propose a strong solution as I am convinced that the only way of addressing joblessness in France was a better balance between flexibility for employers and security for employees.”
France has one of the highest rates of unemployment among young people in Europe but French labour law is said to be too rigid and to deter employers from hiring young workers.
The failure of the “CPE” undermines French government’s attempts to put France on the track of “flexisecurity”, the new method backed by the European commission at last EU summit to cope with unemployment.
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