Mr Sarkozy is expected to focus his plans on offering better educational opportunities and creating more jobs.

Just over two years ago, the government was forced to call a national state of emergency after violent rioting broke out in suburbs across France.

Riots also broke out in November after the deaths of two teenagers near Paris.

The youths were killed in a collision with a police car in Val d'Oise.

The initial findings of an internal police probe, which found that police were not to blame, sparked three nights of violent unrest around the capital and in Toulouse.

Afterwards, Mr Sarkozy promised his government would breathe new life into the most deprived suburbs, while insisting they would hunt down the rioters.

Marginalised estates

It is understood that President Sarkozy's proposals will target about 100 of France's most sensitive and difficult suburbs.

Most of the measures will be aimed at youths, encouraging them to continue their education, helping them to find employment and introducing policies to make sure they are included in wider French society.

As interior minister in 2005, Mr Sarkozy infuriated the young people of the banlieues by saying they should be "cleaned with a power hose" and for describing criminals as "rabble".

The comments helped fuel the riots that spread through the suburbs in November that year.

Although the government of the time promised to invest heavily in the marginalised estates, many feel two years on, that the help they need has still not come.

Last November, there was more urban violence in several suburbs near Paris, particularly in Villiers-le-Bel, when police again clashed with youths on the streets.

With municipal elections coming up next month, Mr Sarkozy knows how important it is to show that his right wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party is offering solutions to France's huge problem of social unrest.

(BBC)

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