France’s Interior Ministry said that Hollande had claimed around 51.67 percent of the runoff vote to Sarkozy’s 48.33 percent. Sarkozy became only the second French president to fail to win a second mandate since Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was swept out of office in 1981. Sarkozy conceded his electoral loss. “I have telephoned François Hollande to congratulate him and wish him good luck,” he said.
If anything, Hollande’s win will be a turning point for Europe and a blow for the German chancellor Angela Merkel. His victory was described as "a turning point, especially for Angela Merkel," Financial Times Deutschland said.
Britain's Independent said Hollande's victory triggered "a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France operates around the world." London's Financial Times said: "Sarkozy becomes latest victim of anti-incumbent backlash."
Hollande’s victory can be seen as turning the tide on a rightward that have dominated Europe over the last years. It can also be seen as turning the tide on xenophobic lurch in European politics. Hollande’s electoral win has the potentials of changing Europe’s handling of the European economic crisis by standing up to German-led austerity measures.
The economic issue was a decisive in voters’ behaviors. By losing the elections, Sarkozy became the eleventh leader in Europe to lose power since the economic crisis hit in 2008. But, Sarkozy’s defeat had to do with another important domestic factors. He was seen as the most unpopular French president ever to run for re-election. Different polls during the election campaign showed that his ultimate defeat was also down to public dislike of a man that was dubbed by many as the "president of the rich" who had swept to victory in 2007 with a huge mandate to change France. Obviously, there is a majority in France who felt that Sarkozy had failed to deliver on his promises.
Experts argue that Hollande will put effort to push Germany to renegotiate Europe's budget discipline pact to include a clause on growth. During his campaign, Hollande has vowed to push growth measures to the center of Brussels' handling of the euro zone crisis. Holland promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year. Additionally, he promised to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.
Hollande’s victory marks a new era for a new Europe in which France is set to play a role to counter Germany rather going along with Germany under the illusion of parity. Now observers will focus their attention on how Germany will cope with this new development. Immediately after the elections on Sunday, the government in Berlin welcomed the victory of the socialist candidate Francois Hollande's confirming that the two nations will keep on working together to handle victory the euro zone debt crisis. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said both sides should keep on cooperating closely in implementing the European Union's policies. "We hope to keep on very close cooperation with the French new president, and we want to make common efforts to overcome the debt crisis," Westerwelle said.
Sarkozy was widely seen as a close ally to the Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel especially when it comes to euro zone policies. Merkel surely will miss an ally such as Sarkozy. Now she will face a different president with different outlook and different priorities. Hollande’s promise to renegotiate the fiscal compact by adding a growth pact to the existing treaty may lead to disagreement between the two most powerful nations in the euro zone.
With no doubt, the election of Hollande marked a turning point for Europe and heralded other changes. Under Sarkozy, the deficit reached a 4.6 percent of GDP and one ratings agency has stripped France of its sterling AAA sovereign debt rating. To put a cap on the deterioration of the economic situation, Hollande seeks to restore social equilibrium in France by taking measures against he austerity plan supported by Angela Merkel of Germany.
