Nicolas Sarkozy: A Grand Entrance

Since taking office on May 16, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's pace has wowed almost everyone. At home, he rammed through reform legislation aimed at encouraging work, cutting taxes, fighting crime and clamping down on immigration. Abroad, he helped break the logjam over the European Union's institutional setup, negotiated the freedom of six Bulgarian medics imprisoned in Libya and strengthened Franco-American relations over a vacation lunch with U.S. President George W. Bush.

But can he keep it up? As summer ends, the fast-moving "Sarko Show" has begun drawing criticism. Opponents complain that Sarkozy's sunny-day successes don't all bear up under scrutiny: was the Libyan triumph linked to troubling nuclear and military contracts? Does Sarkozy's penchant for economic interventionism, visible in Sept. 3's megamerger between utility giants Gaz de France and Suez, mock his free-market rhetoric? Time asked a group of French and international experts to evaluate the spectacular start to the Sarkozy era and how — or whether — he can meet that promise in the months and years to come.

ALAIN DUHAMEL, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR FOR RTL RADIO THE DAILY LIBÉRATION AND SEVERAL OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Nicolas Sarkozy had a successful summer in the Elysée, but it will be difficult for him to perform as well in the crisper air of autumn. The reason is simple: until now, he was responsible for nearly everything that happened, while from now on events will be driven by many other people and circumstances.

Sarkozy has demonstrated incontestable virtuosity in taking up the French presidency. Opinion polls ranked his popularity nearly as high as General de Gaulle's three months after De Gaulle's return to power, and ahead of all other French Presidents. Sarkozy even seemed to break with the past — quite a feat for someone from the same political family as outgoing President Jacques Chirac. Thanks to his policy of "opening" to rival forces, Sarkozy has attracted Socialist stars to his team, forging a cooperation that is uncommon in France.

So far, with his phenomenal hyperactivity, Sarkozy seems to have the four arms of the god Vishnu. It is not by accident that he has won over French voters. Sarkozy has skillfully used the media to trumpet the fulfillment of campaign promises such as tax reform, a tougher tack on crime and a more supple stance on the official 35-hour workweek. He has reacted to every tragic headline with the energy and compassion of a national psychotherapist. Never before under the Fifth Republic has a President personally taken and stood behind so many decisions in such little time. Even if Articles 20 and 21 of the French constitution stipulate that the Prime Minister and his government set policy, for now, French voters are fine with his all-consuming presidency.

But those same French voters are famous for rapid political mood changes. Once the novelty of a situation has worn off, the French quickly readopt their famously corrosive spirit. His backers most want to see unemployment lowered (it's officially at 8% today) and purchasing power increased. But French economic growth, unlikely to exceed 2% in 2007, is too weak for that, and public deficits are still too high. Sarkozy's economic margin for maneuver is therefore much more limited than he would have liked.

Sarkozy also wants to reform pensions and liberalize the labor market — always explosive issues. His objectives for the next 100 days on hot topics like immigration, justice and education are popular, but the social context he'll be facing won't be favorable. His first major electoral test will be French municipal elections next March, when the Socialists could recapture strategic cities like Toulouse, Bordeaux, Reims, Rouen and Caen. Before then, Sarkozy counts on demonstrating the left's weakness, which he can do only as the young General Bonaparte did upon becoming First Consul: by portraying each new battle as both epic and victorious.