Villepin admits errors over disputed youth labour law

FRENCH Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has conceded he made errors in his management of a hotly contested youth labour law that sent one million protesting students and union members into the streets.

He denied, however, that he has been disavowed by President Jacques Chirac, who, in the hope of restoring calm, ordered up a new, softer version of the law meant to make it easier to fire young workers.

Instead, Mr Chirac’s move appears to have fed his opponents’ ardor.

Unions and students planned a new day of strikes and protests for tomorrow.

The strikes and violent protests appear to be taking a toll on Mr de Villepin, the author of the new law.

He was dealt a blow by Chirac’s decision to order up a softened measure after fighting relentlessly to keep the law alive.

“There is misunderstanding and incomprehension about the direction of my action. I profoundly regret it,” he told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper. Asked if he had made mistakes, he replied, “Of course, in all political action there is some error.”

But the “main error” would have been “to do nothing against the mass unemployment in our country.”

A poll published on Saturday showed 72% of the French did not find Mr Chirac’s formula for an exit from the crisis convincing, and 75% said Villepin had been weakened by the crisis.

There were no signs of a crack in the opposition to the law, which has spread from students to trade unions and the political left. Even some members of the governing party remained critical.

In a national television address on Friday night, Chirac offered to modify two key elements of the law, reducing a trial period from two years to one and requiring employers to provide an explanation if an employee is fired.