France’s presidential election campaign is confirming the deep-seated caution of both main candidates. But, for all the disappointed expectations of Sarkozy as a reformer, there is still a sense that he ‘gets it’.

In May’s presidential elections, France faces a choice between the incumbent centre right candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, and the socialist, François Hollande. As the race narrows, Maurice Fraser looks at both candidates and the likely impacts their election might have on France’s domestic, EU and foreign policies. Whoever wins the election and becomes president, France is certain to retain its very sbripecific brand of exceptionalism.