France's prime minister vowed on Thursday to forge ahead with his policies despite looming presidential elections and persistent doubts about his future after a turbulent first year in office.
Dominique de Villepin said he would continue to overhaul France's creaking social welfare system, but he was short on specifics at a monthly press conference that coincided with the start of his second year in office.
Villepin's popularity has tumbled since mass protests forced him to abandon a youth labour law in April, and lingering suspicions that he used graft probes to taint presidential rival Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, have hurt him badly.
The prime minister denies any wrong-doing over the scandal, which he says has been hyped by Paris media, and has embarked on visits around the country to show he is in charge.
"One year after the European Union referendum, we have done a lot. We still have a year ahead of us," Villepin told a news briefing in the cathedral town of Chartres, south-west of Paris. "There is no question of pausing for a year."