Valerie Pecresse, head of the Paris Ile-de-France region and LR candidate in the 2022 French presidential election, gestures during a political campaign rally in Paris, France, April 3, 2022.
Valerie Pecresse, head of the Paris Ile-de-France region and LR candidate in the 2022 French presidential election, gestures during a political campaign rally in Paris, France, April 3, 2022. Reuters / SARAH MEYSSONNIER

Valerie Pecresse, candidate for the conservative Les Republicains party, was seen as a a strong challenger for the French presidency, but she has struggled to find enough votes between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and the far right.

Here are her main policy proposals https://valeriepecresse.fr/projets:

ECONOMY:

* End the 35-hour work week

* Raise the retirement age to 65 from 62

* Cut 150,000 public sector jobs

* Reduce the deficit by 42 billion euros by 2027

IMMIGRATION/ASYLUM:

* Immigration quotas per country and per type of job

* No automatic right to French citizenship for those born in France of foreign parents

* Ban women accompanying children on school trips from wearing a Muslim headscarf

* Close down mosques whose preacher is hostile to France

SECURITY:

* Stiffen judicial sentences in tough neighbourhoods

* Cut red tape in the judicial system

* Create 20,000 more prison beds

EDUCATION/FAMILY:

* Step up sanctions for insulting or assaulting a teacher

* Give more autonomy to headmasters

* Give family allowances to all parents, independently of income

* Increase the threshold for tax-free donations to children

FOREIGN POLICY:

* Re-establish a "constructive dialogue" with the United States

* "Strategic and firm dialogue" with China

* Pro-EU and pro-NATO

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY:

* Back plans for a European carbon tax at the EU's borders

* Build at least six new nuclear reactors to help meet greenhouse emission targets

(Compiled by Ingrid Melander and Makini Brice; Editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Heavens)