France: Sarkozy aims to free employers from 'yoke' of 35-hour week

In December 2007, president Nicolas Sarkozy announced a number of measures aimed at “freeing companies that so wish from the yoke” of the statutory 35-hour normal working week and giving more choice in working time matters to employees and company-level negotiators.

Speaking on 7 December, Sarkozy stated that he no longer wanted “the law or sectoral collective agreements to prevent all possibility for those who so desire to work more in order to earn more.