Concerns over the economy, unemployment and immigration have been at the forefront of the French election.
This week has witnessed an extraordinary sight - a German chancellor openly taking sides in a French election.
As the recent turn-out in the French election shows: give people a real contest and they will come out and vote.
Volker Kauder, a political ally, sums it up like this: Germany is not here to finance French election promises.
On President Hollande's side there is still bitterness that Chancellor Merkel backed Mr Sarkozy so openly during the French election.
The Wall Street Journal Europe spoke to a number of French digital start-ups to gauge their reaction to the French election.
But the outcome of the French election later this month could result in delays which, for once, can't be blamed on the British government.
It was a feature of the French election campaign that poorer voters were disillusioned with the benefits of globalisation, with the European project and the prospect of prolonged austerity.
The hope in Brussels is that the mess will somehow resemble a two-round French election: citizens vote in the first with their hearts, and in the second with their heads.
Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray, said investors were cautious ahead of key events this week, including central bank policy-setting board meetings in the U.S. and Japan, as well as the outcome of the French election.
The fact that Mr. Sarkozy is now so clearly stressing the need to stimulate growth and have a more competitive exchange rate suggests that whoever wins the French election will try to reshape the debate within the euro zone.
It is either a see-saw between left and right as we saw in the recent French election where countries go from left to right and never get anywhere or they are stuck in the center which is kind of where Obama is.
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And there was also the first report on a new way of conducting an election, being tried experimentally in the French presidential election, devised by a mathematician who hopes it may overcome many of the flaws in other voting systems.
The first round of the French presidential election is scheduled for April 22 nd.
Between the emissions from the Republican presidential contest and the French Presidential election campaign, the latter, alarms more.
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The first round of the French presidential election is due on 22 April.
In 1973, Gaullists and their allies retained an absolute majority in the second ballot of the French general election.
However, the victory of Francois Hollande in the French presidential election has sent a breeze of hope throughout the euro zone.
Even more important is the French presidential election, in which the rhetoric of both leading candidates may be a harbinger of fresh EU turmoil.
Strauss Kahn's statement also said the women's testimony had been disclosed at an "opportune time, " just before the final round of the French presidential election.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the French presidential election may make it more difficult to make further progress on dealing with the debt crisis (not an easy matter at the best of times).
Sarkozy's fate was ultimately sealed by the decision of supporters of Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front party not to vote for him in the second round of the French presidential election.
Sarkozy could use such a boost, as the French presidential election is barely more than a year away and he is trailing not just the likely Socialist candidate, but also far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
The BBC's High Schofield in Paris says there will be some scepticism about what Mr Strauss-Kahn has to say, but with the second round of the French presidential election taking place in just over a week, the allegations come at a difficult time for Mr Sarkozy.
First, the eagerness of voters led to an exceptionally high turnout of 84%, testimony not only to a vibrant democracy but also to the fact that French people see this election as critical to their future.
With French President Nicolas Sarkozy up for re-election in 2012 he is eager to court every constituency, including some 500, 000 French citizens of Armenian descent.
This would be a short-term palliative to get the French and Americans past the next election.
Several high-profile Hollande supporters told CNN that a French president running for re-election has never not placed first in the first round of the vote.
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