Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday unveiled nearly 100 measures to streamline France’s cumbersome public administration, cut costs and provide more consumer-friendly services to business and the public.

The measures, the interim findings of a comprehensive audit of ministerial functions and resources, could amount to the most ambitious reform in 50 years of one of the costliest government bureaucracies in Europe. The overhaul aims to slim down central government, eliminating overlaps between agencies at local level and reducing the cost of red tape on business by 25 per cent, with a notional saving to companies of €15bn ($22bn, £11bn) a year.