Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy is the new president of France. The former interior minister bested Ms. Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate, in the second round of the election with 53 percent of votes cast. France is bracing for real change, with the president-elect promising a package of reforms within 100 days of taking office. But redirecting the country is no done deal: Unions have vowed to protect their prerogatives and the French people may yet decide that they are not prepared for Mr. Sarkozy's overhaul.
The new president is the face of a new generation in France. Mr. Sarkozy is an outsider, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, and the first French president to have been born after World War II. He is an energetic and ambitious man who has never backed away from a challenge.
He campaigned on a platform that promised to revitalize France by cutting taxes, shrinking government and introducing more flexibility into the labor market, one of the most tightly regulated in the world. He has been described by media on the left as "Thatcher without the skirts," referring both to her unwavering commitment to painful economic reform and a readiness to court the anger of opponents during that effort.