New President Francois Hollande sworn in
Francois Hollande has been sworn in as President of France and now begins negotiations with EU partners about the terms of the economic difficulties facing the 27 member countries. His victory was seen as a signal that France had rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's austerity budget and this will mean a confrontation with Angela Merkel, Germany's leader. She has already made clear that existing terms are non negotiable which puts the close allies at loggerheads over the way forward for Europe.