Dominique de Villepin, France's new prime minister, will announce a series of measures aimed at creating about 800,000 new jobs within one year, according to an unsourced report in the Lettre de l'Expansion newsletter. The proposals, to be unveiled at Villepin's general policy presentation on Wednesday, will include a lowering of business charges, an increase in public/private partnerships, and the development of programmes for bringing individuals back into the labour market, the report said. Villepin will also announce the government's intention to protect public services, and call for the creation of European industrial champions similar to EADS, for example a tie-up between Electricite de France, Veolia Environnement and Italy's Montedison.