The new "action" government of French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin was getting down to its first full day of business on Tuesday.

Mr Raffarin has unveiled a cabinet virtually unchanged from the caretaker team appointed in the run-up to Sunday's general election, and arrived at his official residence promising to set off "at a gallop".

But "Raffarin, Act II, Scene I", as left-wing newspaper Liberation characterised it, could be lacking in real drama, correspondents say, as the trickiest policy areas may remain untackled.

Raffarin team

Interior - Nicolas Sarkozy Foreign Affairs - Dominique de Villepin Defence - Michele Alliot-Marie Economy - Francis Mer Employment - Francois Fillon Justice - Dominique Perben Education - Luc Ferry Transport - Gilles de Robien Health - Jean-Francois Mattei Agriculture - Herve Gaymard Culture - Jean-Jacques Aillagon Sports - Jean-Francois Lamour

Signs emerged on Tuesday, meanwhile, of a possible French plan to reinterpret budget commitments made by members of the euro currency, which could pitch it into a major row with Germany at this week's European Union summit in Seville.

The new French Industry Minister, Nicole Fontaine, suggested in a radio interview that targets for cutting public borrowing should be adapted to promote job creation and economic growth.

She said there was "room for manoeuvre" and called for an "intelligent" interpretation of the rules.

The BBC's Europe Business correspondent, Patrick Bartlett, says there has been speculation for weeks that the new government has been preparing to wriggle out of financial targets which President Chirac endorsed as recently as the Barcelona summit in March.

But Mr Chirac has also promised voters to slash income tax by 30% within five years, leaving him with little room for manoeuvre.

Figures leaked by German Government officials on Monday showed that France was deeper in the red than previously admitted, and one official reportedly commented that in his opinion France could not cut taxes.

We will not succeed without reform, and we will not reform without courage

Jean-Pierre Raffarin French PM

Meanwhile some of the most intractable problems in France - the need for pension reform, cutting back on the huge civil service culture and other social changes - may be left untouched because of the risk of sparking public opposition.

Mr Raffarin has already acknowledged the problems posed by reform.

"We will not succeed without reform, and we will not reform without courage," he said.

The right has a massive majority, giving it the theoretical power to push through any reforms it chooses.

The French are very contradictory in their demands

Dominique Moisi French Institute for International Relations

But Mr Chirac - badly bruised by a previous reforming drive in the 1990s - may go easy on measures likely to prove unpopular.

Mr Raffarin has pledged to preside over a lasting government, after a string of short-lived right-wing administrations.

Previous casualties have included ex-Prime Minister Alain Juppe, forced from office by a previous attempt to tackle pension reform.

The French culture of taking grievances onto the streets is far from dead, as the massive anti-Le Pen protests have shown.

"The French are very contradictory in their demands," said Dominque Moisi, of the French Institute for International Relations.

"They want less state in terms of taxation and control of the economy, and at the same time they want more state - to be protected from insecurity, which usually means more taxes to fund more police forces."

Mr Chirac has said he will reform, but not abolish, the 35-hour working week, a pillar of the old Socialist government's achievements.

Although popular with many workers, the measure enraged small business leaders who said their operations were thrown into chaos and profits were hit.

A giant leap into government for Claudie Haignere

The only big change to the government's pre-election line-up is the departure of Europe Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who is under investigation for alleged party-funding irregularities.

He has been replaced with Noelle Lenoir, a former member of France's highest judicial authority, the Constitutional Council.

And French astronaut Claudie Haignere makes her first appearance as a junior minister, responsible for research.

She is among 12 junior ministers added to the pre-election team by Mr Raffarin. Both are seen as left-wingers, in stark contrast to a cabinet dominated by Chirac allies.