Francois Hollande is to be sworn in as France's first Socialist president in 17 years in a ceremony on Tuesday before visiting Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollande, whose election comes as the eurozone is teetering back into crisis with fears about Greece's future in the single currency, will give his first presidential news conference in Berlin in the evening with Merkel.

His first words as president will be keenly watched by financial markets eager for reassurance that his push for more economic growth against austerity measures will not sour the start of his relationship with Merkel.

Hollande takes over at a time when French debt has swelled to 90 per cent of GDP, the trade deficit is at a record $90bn and nearly one in four young French workers is unemployed. The public sector accounts for 56 per cent of annual
output, higher than in any other European country.

Hollande, who said on the night of his election that the weight of events in Europe forced him to keep his celebrations short, said on Monday he knew he would be judged on how he starts his presidency.

Anxious not to lose the "Mr Normal" image that appealed to voters tired of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande has asked for his 0800 GMT inauguration ceremony to be kept as low-key as possible.

In a break with tradition, he will invite just three dozen or so personal guests to join some 350 officials at the event and neither his nor his partner Valerie Trierweiler's children will attend.

He will be presented with the official chain of office, a gold collar weighing nearly a kilogram and engraved with the names of all Fifth Republic presidents.

He will then be taken on a traditional victory spin down the Champs Elysees avenue in an open-topped car.

Hollande is set to name civil servant Pierre-Rene Lemas as his chief of staff shortly after his swearing-in.

Germanophile Jean-Marc Ayrault, who has strong contacts in Berlin, could be named prime minister later in the day.

Before that, Sarkozy will go through the ritual of entrusting his successor with nuclear codes and other secret dossiers, and Hollande will eat his first lunch as president with Socialist former prime ministers Pierre Mauroy, Laurent Fabius, Michel Rocard, Edith Cresson and Lionel Jospin.

PHOTO CAPTION

President-elect of France Francois Hollande waves as he leaves the Socialist Party headquarters on May 7, 2012 in Paris, France.

Aljazeera