THE economic situation was disappointing and so were the polls, but President Nicolas Sarkozy had cause for cheer this weekend as he packed for a holiday on the Riviera with Carla Bruni, his glamorous wife.

It was not just because this was the first proper break that the couple had enjoyed since their marriage in February. Nor was it because Bruni’s new album had soared to the top of the French charts. Instead, his buoyant mood reflected a string of recent political victories: on Wednesday the Senate approved a virtual coup de grâce for the 35-hour working week that had been blamed for turning France into a holiday camp since its introduction by the Socialists 10 years ago.

Not only that. The so-called “economy modernisation” law will hack a clearing in the notoriously overgrown forest of French bureaucracy to allow space for entrepreneurs to grow businesses. Unemployment benefit rules will be changed to allow penalties against jobless people who turn down more than two offers of work.

Just as cheering for the president was the failure of the woefully divided Socialist opposition to mount any effective resistance. The notoriously troublesome Marxist-dominated unions seemed similarly enfeebled as they delayed further protests against the threat to the 35-hour week until after the fermeture annuelle, or long summer break.

It has left presidential aides sounding more than usually optimistic. “Things are starting to change,” said one. “The president has a mandate for reform and will not be distracted from this process.”

Sarkozy had ruled out scrapping the 35-hour week altogether – he knows how popular it is among many French voters – but the new law will allow individual companies to make deals with employees about how long they work.

Their short working week had turned the French into European laureates of leisure: on average the French take 37 days of paid leave a year, compared with 26 days in Britain.

Although Sarkozy had promised “rupture” with the bad old ways of the past, there were fears that a global economic downturn, rising fuel prices and a collapse in his popularity would restrict his leeway for forging ahead with unpopular reforms. Instead, he seems to have stepped up the pace.

The government also unveiled plans to close several military bases and cut the 320,000-strong armed forces by 54,000. A controversial reform of the constitution was also approved to strengthen parliament and limit the president to two terms in office.

It could take several months before the economic measures translate into results but according to Christine Lagarde, the finance minister, already there were signs that France was going back to work: overtime per worker jumped by 40% in the first quarter of 2008 compared with a year earlier.

Even so, a recent opinion poll shows that French morale is at its lowest ebb since 1987.A majority of respondents felt that they did not have enough money to be happy. At £1,500, the average French holiday budget was £250 less than the European average.

This has no doubt influenced Sarkozy’s choice of a low-key holiday: he does not want to be accused of living it up with Bruni while ordinary people struggle to make ends meet. Not that the couple will be slumming it. Sarkozy will divide his time between a spacious villa belonging to Bruni’s family and the nearby fort of Brégançon, an official presidential retreat not far from Saint-Tropez.

The fort has never been particularly popular among French presidents, its high walls lending it the air of a top-security prison. After having the place done up at enormous expense, Charles de Gaulle spent only one night there, complaining that the bed was too small and there were too many mosquitoes.

François Mitterrand, the Socialist president, seldom went there. Jacques Chirac was famously photographed on the balcony in his underwear. He was said to have amused himself for hours on end by looking through binoculars at topless sunbathers on yachts.

To deter the paparazzi, an exclusion zone has been imposed around the Bruni property, where 40-year-old Carla spent many holidays in her gilded youth. Her mother has dedicated a room to Carla’s career as a model and the walls have been decorated with magazine covers featuring her face. So there is one area, at least, in which Sarkozy can compete with her.

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