Editing Jacques Chirac (section)

== Presidency (1995–2007) ==

=== First term: 1995–2002 ===
{{more citations needed|section|date=September 2019}}

==== Juppé ministry ====
[[File:Clintonchirac.jpg|thumb|Chirac with US president [[Bill Clinton]] outside the [[Élysée Palace]], 1999]]

During the [[1995 French presidential election|1995 presidential campaign]], Chirac criticised the "sole thought" ({{lang|fr|[[pensée unique]]}}{{--)}} of [[neoliberalism]] represented by his challenger on the right and promised to reduce the "social fracture", placing himself more to the centre and thus forcing Balladur to [[Political radicalism|radicalise]] himself. Ultimately, he obtained more votes than Balladur in the first round (20.8 per cent), and then defeated the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]] candidate [[Lionel Jospin]] in the second round (52.6 per cent).

Chirac was elected on a platform of tax cuts and job programmes, but his policies did little to ease the labour strikes during his first months in office. On the domestic front, neo-liberal economic austerity measures introduced by Chirac and his conservative prime minister [[Alain Juppé]], including budgetary cutbacks, proved highly unpopular. At about the same time, it became apparent that Juppé and others had obtained preferential conditions for public housing, as well as other perks. At the year's end, Chirac faced [[1995 strikes in France|major workers' strikes]] which turned, in November–December 1995, into a [[general strike]], one of the largest since May 1968. The demonstrations were largely pitted against Juppé's plan for pension reform, and ultimately led to his dismissal.

Shortly after taking office, Chirac{{spaced ndash}}undaunted by international protests by environmental groups{{spaced ndash}}insisted upon the resumption of [[France and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll]] in [[French Polynesia]] in 1995, a few months before signing the [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acronym.org.uk/a09comp.htm |title=Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty |publisher=Acronym.org.uk |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725044325/http://www.acronym.org.uk/a09comp.htm |archive-date=25 July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Reacting to criticism, Chirac said, "You only have to look back at 1935...There were people then who were against France arming itself, and look what happened." On 1 February 1996, Chirac announced that France had ended "once and for all" its nuclear testing and intended to accede to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Elected as President of the Republic, he refused to discuss the existence of French military bases in Africa, despite requests by the [[Ministry of the Armies (France)|Ministry of Defence]] and the [[Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].<ref name="Smith" /> The French Army thus remained in Côte d'Ivoire as well as in [[Omar Bongo]]'s Gabon.
[[File:Vladimir Putin 2 July 2001-5.jpg|thumb|right|Chirac with Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]], 2001]]
[[File:Chirac and Schroeder on the Neva.jpg|thumb|Chirac with German federal chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]], 2003]]

==== State responsibility for the roundup of Jews ====

Prior to 1995, the French government had maintained that the [[French Third Republic|French Republic]] had been dismantled when [[Philippe Pétain]] instituted a new French State during [[World War II]] and that the Republic had been re-established when the war was over. It was not for France, therefore, to apologise for the roundup of Jews for deportation that happened while the Republic had not existed and was carried out by a state, [[Vichy France]], which it did not recognise. President [[François Mitterrand]] had reiterated this position: "The Republic had nothing to do with this. I do not believe France is responsible," he said in September 1994.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/17/world/chirac-affirms-france-s-guilt-in-fate-of-jews.html|title=Chirac Affirms France's Guilt in Fate of Jews|first=Marlise|last=Simons|date=17 July 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=28 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207075618/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/17/world/chirac-affirms-france-s-guilt-in-fate-of-jews.html|archive-date=7 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chirac was the first president of France to take responsibility for the deportation of Jews during the Vichy regime. In a speech made on 16 July 1995 at the site of the [[Vel' d'Hiv Roundup]], where 13,000 Jews had been held for deportation to concentration camps in July 1942, Chirac said, "France, on that day, committed the irreparable". Those responsible for the roundup were "4,500 policemen and gendarmes, French, under the authority of their leaders [who] obeyed the demands of the Nazis. ... the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French State".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35188755|title=France opens WW2 Vichy regime files|date=28 December 2015|publisher=BBC|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109073634/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35188755|archive-date=9 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais/interventions/discours_et_declarations/1995/juillet/allocution_de_m_jacques_chirac_president_de_la_republique_prononcee_lors_des_ceremonies_commemorant_la_grande_rafle_des_16_et_17_juillet_1942-paris.2503.html Allocution de M. Jacques CHIRAC Président de la République prononcée lors des cérémonies commémorant la grande rafle des 16 et 17 juillet 1942 (Paris)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413170546/http://elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais/interventions/discours_et_declarations/1995/juillet/allocution_de_m_jacques_chirac_president_de_la_republique_prononcee_lors_des_ceremonies_commemorant_la_grande_rafle_des_16_et_17_juillet_1942-paris.2503.html |date=13 April 2009 }}, Président de la république</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jacqueschirac-asso.fr/fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Allocution-Vel-dhiv.pdf |title=Allocution de M. Jacques CHIRAC Président de la République prononcée lors des cérémonies commémorant la grande rafle des 16 et 17 juillet 1942 (Paris) |work=jacqueschirac-asso |date=16 July 1995 |access-date=17 July 2014 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724134623/http://www.jacqueschirac-asso.fr/fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Allocution-Vel-dhiv.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== "Cohabitation" with Jospin ====
In 1997, Chirac dissolved parliament for [[1997 French legislative election|early legislative elections]] in a gamble designed to bolster support for his conservative economic program. But instead, it created an uproar, and his power was weakened by the subsequent backlash. The Socialist Party (PS), [[Plural Left|joined by other parties on the left]], soundly defeated Chirac's conservative allies, forcing Chirac into a new period of [[cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]] with Jospin as prime minister (1997–2002), which lasted five years.

Cohabitation significantly weakened the power of Chirac's presidency. The French president, by a [[constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]], only controls foreign and military policy— and even then, allocation of funding is under the control of Parliament and under the significant influence of the prime minister. Short of dissolving parliament and calling for new elections, the president was left with little power to influence public policy regarding crime, the economy, and public services. Chirac seized the occasion to periodically criticise Jospin's government.

His position was weakened by [[Corruption scandals in the Paris region|scandals about the financing of RPR by Paris municipality]]. In 2001, the left, represented by [[Bertrand Delanoë]] (PS), won a majority on the city council of the capital. [[Jean Tiberi]], Chirac's successor at the Paris city hall, was forced to resign after having been put under investigation in June 1999 on charges of {{lang|fr|[[influence peddling|trafic d'influences]]}} in the [[HLM]]s of Paris affairs (related to the illegal financing of the RPR). Tiberi was finally expelled from the [[Rally for the Republic]], Chirac's party, on 12 October 2000, declaring to the magazine {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}} on 18 November 2000: "Jacques Chirac is not my friend anymore".<ref>"Rien ne va plus entre Chirac et Tiberi", ''[[Le Figaro]]'', 18 November 2000 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

After the publication of the Jean-Claude Méry by {{lang|fr|[[Le Monde]]}} on 22 September 2000, in which Jean-Claude Méry, in charge of the RPR's financing, directly accused Chirac of organising the network, and of having been physically present on 5 October 1986, when Méry gave in cash 5 million [[Franc]]s, which came from companies who had benefited from state deals, to [[Michel Roussin]], personal secretary ({{lang|fr|directeur de cabinet}}{{--)}} of Chirac,<ref>[http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=101715 "Un témoignage pour l'histoire"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013195052/http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=101715 |date=13 October 2007 }}, ''Le Monde'', 22 September 2000 {{in lang|fr}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-101887,0.html La suite du testament de Jean-Claude Méry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013195156/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-101887,0.html |date=13 October 2007 }}, ''Le Monde'', 23 September 2000 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> Chirac refused to attend court in response to his summons by judge [[Eric Halphen]], and the highest echelons of the French justice system declared that he could not be inculpated while in office.

During his two terms, he increased the Elysee Palace's total budget by 105 per cent (to €90&nbsp;million, whereas 20 years before it was the equivalent of €43.7&nbsp;million). He doubled the number of presidential cars – to 61 cars and seven scooters in the Palace's garage. He hired 145 extra employees – the total number of people he employed simultaneously was 963.

==== Defence policy ====
As the Supreme Commander of the French armed forces, he reduced the military budget, as did his predecessor. At the end of his first term, it accounted for three per cent of GDP.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html CIA – The World Factbook – Rank Order – Military expenditures – percent of GDP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005240/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html |date=13 June 2007 }}. Cia.gov. Retrieved 17 December 2011.</ref> In 1997 the aircraft carrier [[French aircraft carrier Clemenceau|''Clemenceau'']] was decommissioned after 37 years of service, with her sister ship [[French aircraft carrier Foch|''Foch'']] decommissioned in 2000 after 37 years of service, leaving the French Navy with no aircraft carrier until 2001, when [[French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle|''Charles de Gaulle'']] was commissioned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmarine.net/bat/porteavi/cdg/index.htm |title=Porte-avions Charles de Gaulle |publisher=Netmarine.net |access-date=20 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406023134/http://www.netmarine.net/bat/porteavi/cdg/index.htm |archive-date=6 April 2010  }}</ref> He also reduced expenditure on nuclear weapons{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} and the French nuclear arsenal was reduced to include 350 warheads, compared to the Russian nuclear arsenal of 16,000 warheads.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} He also published a plan to reduce the number of fighters the French military had by 30.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/contents_in_english/french_air_force/the_future/the_future |title=Archived copy |website=defense.gouv.fr |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922034047/http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/contents_in_english/french_air_force/the_future/the_future |archive-date=22 September 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

After François Mitterrand left office in 1995, Chirac began a rapprochement with NATO by joining the [[NATO Military Committee|Military Committee]] and attempting to negotiate a return to the [[NATO Military Command Structure|integrated military command]], which failed after the French demand for parity with the United States went unmet. The possibility of a further attempt foundered after Chirac was forced into cohabitation with a Socialist-led cabinet between 1997 and 2002, then poor Franco-American relations after the French UN veto threat over Iraq in 2003 made transatlantic negotiations impossible.

==== Close call ====
On 25 July 2000, as Chirac and the first lady were returning from the [[26th G8 summit|G7 Summit]] in Okinawa, Japan, they were placed in a dangerous situation by [[Air France Flight 4590]] after they landed at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The first couple were in an Air France [[Boeing 747]] taxiing toward the terminal when the jet had to stop and wait for Flight 4590 to take off.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rose|first=David|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/13/davidrose.focus |title=Concorde: the unanswered questions |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201213044/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/13/davidrose.focus |archive-date=1 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> The departing plane, an [[Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde]], ran over a strip of metal on takeoff puncturing its left fuel tank and sliced electrical wires near the left landing gear. The sequence of events ignited a large fire and caused the Concorde to veer left on its takeoff roll. As it reached takeoff speed and lifted off the ground, it came within 30 feet of hitting Chirac's 747. Photographs of Flight 4590 ablaze were taken by passenger Toshihiko Sato on Chirac's jetliner.

=== Second term: 2002–2007 ===
{{Main|Jacques Chirac's second term as President of France}}

[[File:25052006 lula chirac.jpg|thumb|Chirac greets the President of Brazil, [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]], and his wife [[Marisa Letícia]] during a ceremony at the [[Palácio da Alvorada]] in [[Brasília]], 2006.]]
At the age of 69, Chirac faced his fourth presidential campaign in 2002. He received 20% of the vote in the first ballot of the [[2002 French presidential election|presidential elections]] in April 2002. It had been expected that he would face incumbent prime minister [[Lionel Jospin]] (PS) in the second round of elections; instead, Chirac faced far-right politician [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] of the [[National Rally (France)|National Front]] (FN), who came in 200,000 votes ahead of Jospin. All parties other than the National Front (except for {{lang|fr|[[Lutte ouvrière]]|italic=no}}) called for opposing Le Pen, even if it meant voting for Chirac. The 14-day period between the two rounds of voting was marked by demonstrations against Le Pen and slogans such as "Vote for the crook, not for the fascist" or "Vote with a clothespin on your nose". Chirac won re-election by a landslide, with 82 per cent of the vote on the second ballot. However, Chirac became increasingly unpopular during his second term. According to a July 2005 poll,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aXp5XEjdZ3_k&refer=europe |title=Europe |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=2 June 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010 }}</ref> 37 per cent judged Chirac favourably and 63 per cent unfavourably. In 2006, ''[[The Economist]]'' wrote that Chirac "is the most unpopular occupant of the Elysée Palace in the fifth republic's history."<ref name="economistneeds">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8080753|title=What France needs|access-date=5 August 2007|date=26 October 2006|newspaper=The Economist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013113135/http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8080753|archive-date=13 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Early term ====
As the left-wing Socialist Party was in thorough disarray following Jospin's defeat, Chirac reorganised politics on the [[right-wing|right]], establishing a new party – initially called the Union of the Presidential Majority, then the [[Union for a Popular Movement]] (UMP). The RPR had broken down; a number of members had formed [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]] breakaways. While the Giscardian liberals of the [[Union for French Democracy]] (UDF) had moved to the right,{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}<!--<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/archives.php?id=8465 |title=More conservative infighting over links to French far right |access-date=19 April 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512001044/http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/archives.php?id=8465 |archive-date=12 May 2008 }} [[Associated Press]] via ''Turkish Daily News''. 15 August 1998</ref>--> the UMP won the [[2002 French legislative election|parliamentary elections]] that followed the presidential poll with ease.

During an official visit to [[Third Republic of Madagascar|Madagascar]] on 21 July 2005, Chirac described the repression of the 1947 [[Malagasy uprising]], which left between 80,000 and 90,000 dead, as "unacceptable".

Despite past opposition to state intervention, the Chirac government approved a €2.8&nbsp;billion aid package to troubled manufacturing giant [[Alstom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/08/08/alstom_1.php |author=Eric Pfanner |title=France's §&nbsp;2.8&nbsp;billion aid package unlikely to bring quick fix : Alstom bailout may be long haul |work=International Herald Tribune |date=8 August 2003 |access-date=20 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509043726/http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/08/08/alstom_1.php |archive-date=9 May 2008 }}</ref> In October 2004, Chirac signed a [[trade agreement]] with PRC president [[Hu Jintao]] where Alstom was given €1&nbsp;billion in contracts and promises of future investment in China.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200410/10/eng20041010_159619.html |title=People's Daily Online – France's Alstom, China ink $1.3b contracts |work=People's Daily |date=10 October 2004 |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116163528/http://english.people.com.cn/200410/10/eng20041010_159619.html |archive-date=16 January 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Assassination attempt ====
On 14 July 2002, during [[Bastille Day]] celebrations, Chirac survived an assassination attempt by a lone gunman with a rifle hidden in a guitar case. The would-be assassin fired a shot toward the presidential [[motorcade]], before being overpowered by bystanders.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_2127000/2127946.stm Chirac escapes lone gunman's bullet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130175132/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2127946.stm |date=30 November 2021 }}, BBC, 15 July 2002</ref> The gunman, [[Maxime Brunerie]], underwent psychiatric testing; the violent far-right group with which he was associated, {{lang|fr|[[Unité Radicale]]|italic=no}}, was thence administratively dissolved.

==== Foreign policy ====
[[File:Victory Day Parade 2005-26.jpg|thumb|Chirac with [[George W. Bush]], [[Gerhard Schröder]], [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Junichiro Koizumi]] and other state leaders in Moscow, 2005]]

Along with [[Vladimir Putin]] (whom he called "a personal friend"),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/15578042 |title=Europe's bear problem |date=25 February 2010 |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=8 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629205103/http://www.economist.com/node/15578042 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hu Jintao]], and [[Gerhard Schröder]], Chirac emerged as a leading voice against [[George W. Bush]] and [[Tony Blair]] in 2003 during the organisation and deployment of American and British forces participating in a [[Coalition of the willing|military coalition]] to [[Deposition (politics)|forcibly remove]] the government of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] controlled by the [[Ba'ath Party]] under the leadership of [[Saddam Hussein]] that resulted in the 2003–2011 [[Iraq War]].

Despite British and American pressure, Chirac threatened to veto, at that given point, a resolution in the [[UN Security Council]] that would authorise the use of military force to rid [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction]], and rallied other governments to his position. "Iraq today does not represent an immediate threat that justifies an immediate war", Chirac said on 18 March 2003. Future prime minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] acquired much of his popularity for his speech against the war at the United Nations (UN).<ref>Stefano Recchia, "Did Chirac Say"'Non'"? Revisiting UN Diplomacy on Iraq, 2002-03." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 130.4 (2015): 625-654 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43828728 online].</ref>

After Togo's leader [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]]'s death on 5 February 2005, Chirac gave him tribute and supported his son, [[Faure Gnassingbé]], who has since succeeded his father.<ref name="Smith" />

On 19 January 2006, Chirac said that France was prepared to launch a [[nuclear warfare|nuclear strike]] against any country that sponsors a [[List of terrorist incidents|terrorist attack]] against French interests. He said his country's [[Force de frappe|nuclear arsenal]] had been reconfigured to include the ability to make a tactical strike in retaliation for terrorism.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903311.html Chirac: Nuclear Response to Terrorism Is Possible] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204084314/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903311.html |date=4 December 2016 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 20 January 2006</ref>

Chirac criticised the [[2006 Lebanon War|Israeli offensive into Lebanon]] on 14 July 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=France Criticizes Israel Attack on Lebanon |date=14 July 2006 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400746.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024182220/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400746.html |archive-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, Israeli Army Radio later reported that Chirac had secretly told Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Olmert]] that France would support an Israeli invasion of Syria and the overthrow of the government of President [[Bashar al-Assad]], promising to veto any moves against Israel in the United Nations or [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121878 |title=France Urged Israel to Invade Syria During War |date=18 March 2007 |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805123723/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121878 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Whereas the disagreement on Iraq had caused a rift between Paris and Washington, recent analysis suggests that both governments worked closely together on the Syria file to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and that Chirac was a driver of this diplomatic cooperation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.institutmontaigne.org/blog/jacques-chirac-explorateur-du-monde-multipolaire|title=Jacques Chirac – explorateur du monde multipolaire|last=Duclos|first=Michel|date=1 October 2019|website=Institut Montaigne|language=fr|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001142422/https://www.institutmontaigne.org/blog/jacques-chirac-explorateur-du-monde-multipolaire|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Robert Kocharyan and Jacques Chirac in Yerevan, 2006.jpg|thumb|Chirac and Armenian president [[Robert Kocharyan]], 2006]]
In July 2006, the [[G8]] met to discuss international energy concerns. Despite the rising awareness of [[global warming]] issues, the G8 focused on "[[energy security]]" issues. Chirac continued{{when|date=August 2014}} to be the voice{{citation needed|reason=Declaring him to be "the" voice is POV without a source|date=August 2014}} within the G8 summit meetings to support international action to curb global warming and [[climate change]] concerns. Chirac warned that "humanity is dancing on a [[volcano]]" and called for serious action by the world's leading industrialised nations.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

After Chirac's death in 2019, the street leading to the [[Louvre Abu Dhabi]] was named Jacques Chirac Street in November 2019 in celebration of Chirac's efforts to bolster [[France–United Arab Emirates relations|links between France and the United Arab Emirates]] during his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/uae/heritage/street-named-in-honour-of-jacques-chirac-at-louvre-abu-dhabi-ceremony-1.936272|title=Street named in honour of Jacques Chirac at Louvre Abu Dhabi ceremony|newspaper=The National|date=11 November 2019|last=Dajani|first=Haneen|access-date=21 April 2020|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830200654/https://www.thenational.ae/uae/heritage/street-named-in-honour-of-jacques-chirac-at-louvre-abu-dhabi-ceremony-1.936272|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chirac espoused a staunchly pro-Moroccan policy, and the already established pro-Moroccan French stances vis-à-vis the [[Western Sahara conflict]] were strengthened during his presidential tenure.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|page=154|title=Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4422-2685-2|editor-first=Anouar|editor-last=Boukhars|editor-first2=Jacques|editor-last2=Roussellier|chapter=Diplomatic Struggle in Africa and Europe over the Western Sahara Conflict|first=Antonin|last=Tisseron|access-date=21 August 2021|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927095717/https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Flight tax ====
Chirac requested the ''Landau-report'' (published in September 2004) and combined with the ''Report of the Technical Group on Innovative Financing Mechanisms'' formulated upon request by the Heads of State of Brazil, Chile, France and Spain (issued in December 2004), these documents present various opportunities for innovative financing mechanisms while equally stressing the advantages (stability and predictability) of tax-based models. The [[UNITAID]] project was born. Today the organisation's executive board is chaired by [[Marisol Touraine]].<ref>{{cite web|last=World Health Organisation|title=Unitaid: Governance|url=https://unitaid.org/about-us/governance/#en|access-date=22 April 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422200505/https://unitaid.org/about-us/governance/#en|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2005 referendum on TCE ====
{{Further|2005 French European Constitution referendum |Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe}}
On 29 May 2005, a [[referendum]] was held in France to decide whether the country should ratify the proposed treaty for a [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|Constitution of the European Union]] (TCE). The result was a victory for the No campaign, with 55 per cent of voters rejecting the treaty on a turnout of 69 per cent, dealing a devastating blow to Chirac and the [[Union for a Popular Movement]] (UMP) party, and to part of the centre-left which had supported the TCE. Following the referendum defeat, Chirac replaced his prime minister [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]] with Dominique de Villepin. In an address to the nation, Chirac declared that the new cabinet's top priority was to curb unemployment, which was consistently hovering above 10 per cent, calling for a "national mobilisation" to that effect.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-01-fg-france1-story.html |title=Stung by Voters on EU, Chirac Replaces His Prime Minister |last1=Rotella |first1=Sebastian |author-link=Sebastian Rotella |last2=Sicakyuz |first2=Achrene |date=1 June 2005 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=10 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403220745/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/01/world/fg-france1 |archive-date=3 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== 2005 civil unrest and CPE protests ====
{{Further|2005 civil unrest in France |2006 labour protests in France}}
Following major [[2006 labour protests in France|student protests in spring 2006]], which followed [[2005 civil unrest in France|civil unrest]] in autumn 2005 after the death of two young boys in [[Clichy-sous-Bois]], one of the poorest communes in Paris' suburbs, Chirac retracted the proposed [[First Employment Contract]] (CPE) by "promulgating [it] without applying it", an unheard-of – and, some claim, illegal – move intended to appease the protesters while giving the appearance of not making a {{lang|fr|volte-face}} regarding the contract, and therefore to continue his support for his prime minister [[Dominique de Villepin]].{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==== Retirement ====
In early September 2005, Chirac suffered an event that his doctors described as a "vascular incident". It was officially reported as a "[[minor stroke]]"<ref>{{cite news |last=Willsher |first=Kim |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1497612/Minor-stroke-puts-Chirac-in-hospital-but-he-hangs-on-to-reins-of-government.html |title=Minor stroke puts Chirac in hospital but he hangs on to reins of government |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=4 September 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204130336/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1497612/Minor-stroke-puts-Chirac-in-hospital-but-he-hangs-on-to-reins-of-government.html |archive-date=4 December 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> or a mild stroke (also known as a [[transient ischemic attack]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-10722229.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104170739/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-10722229.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2012 |title=Rivals in open warfare after Chirac's stroke raises stakes in succession fight battle |work=The Belfast Telegraph  |date=6 September 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref> He recovered and returned to his duties soon afterward.

In a pre-recorded television broadcast aired on 11 March 2007, he announced, in a widely predicted move, that he would not choose to seek a third term as president. (In 2000 the constitution was amended to reduce the length of the presidential term to five years, so his second term was shorter than his first.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/frances-new-five-year-presidential-term/ |title=France's New Five-Year Presidential Term |first=Olivier |last=Duhamel |date=30 November 2001 |access-date=19 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420143222/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/frances-new-five-year-presidential-term/ |archive-date=20 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> "My whole life has been committed to serving France, and serving peace", Chirac said, adding that he would find new ways to serve France after leaving office. He did not explain the reasons for his decision.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/12/europe/EU-POL-France-Chiracs-Future.php France's Chirac says he will not run for re-election] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320233225/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/12/europe/EU-POL-France-Chiracs-Future.php |date=20 March 2007 }} Associated Press, 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2007</ref> He did not, during the broadcast, endorse any of the candidates running for election, but did devote several minutes of his talk to a plea against extremist politics that was considered a thinly disguised invocation to voters not to vote for [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] and a recommendation to [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] not to orient his campaign so as to include themes traditionally associated with Le Pen.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101091.html Chirac Leaving Stage Admired and Scorned] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107221800/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101091.html |date=7 November 2017 }} by John Leicester, Associated Press, 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2007.</ref>