MOSCOW (Sputnik) — If elected, Valls wants to hold "a refounding conference… to create the conditions for a consensus essential to the survival of the European project," he said, outlining his program on Tuesday.
The refounding will involve affirming the social model, increasing border controls, applying heavy taxes to products entering the internal market without meeting the social and environmental rules, and introducing an EU-wide minimum wage.
He also proposed a pause in the expansion of the European Union and an end to plans for Turkey to join the bloc.
Center-right The Republicans nominee Francois Fillon is expected to face National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff. The ruling Socialist Party is preparing for two rounds of primaries in January. Valls is among the declared candidates for the Socialist Party's nomination and will take part in the primaries on January 22 and January 29.
The French presidential elections will take place in April and May.
