PARIS - FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy makes constitutional history on Monday in a 'state of the union' address outlining his plans for reforming France as it emerges from recession. A possible law on banning the Islamic burka is set to be discussed along with his economic and social project and his vision for Europe in the speech to both houses of parliament gathered in the Chateau of Versailles.

Green and Communist lawmakers are boycotting the speech while the mainstream Socialists agreed to attend even if they denounced what they believe is an attack on republican values and a public relations exercise for Mr Sarkozy. The right-wing president is set to revive several major reform projects - from the hot potato issue of pensions to streamlining regional government - mothballed while he battled a combination of unpopularity and economic woes.

Mr Sarkozy, who came to power in 2007 vowing to radically overhaul France, seized on a surprise boost in the opinion polls to unveil the next stage of his reform drive before reshuffling his cabinet later in the week. Buoyed by the right's strong showing in recent European elections, Mr Sarkozy's poll rating has surged to between 45 and 48 per cent, its highest in a year, giving him a welcome burst of oxygen halfway through his five-year term.

Pollsters link Sarkozy's current honeymoon to his UMP party's EU election gains, his own dynamic stint at last year's EU presidency, and even a knock-on effect of US President Barack Obama's high-profile visit to France this month. France's left-wing and centrist opposition are in disarray after faring dismally in the EU polls, and million-strong protests over Mr Sarkozy's tackling of the crisis have all but fizzled out, opening a rare window of opportunity.

French presidents have for more than a century and a half been banned from entering parliament to ensure the legislature's independence from the executive. But that was overturned in a constitutional reform last year billed by Mr Sarkozy as increasing parliamentary checks and balances over the presidency.

The opposition has denounced the speech - billed by some newspapers as akin to the US president's state of the union address to Congress - as yet another chance for political self-aggrandisement by the president.

'It is the very nature of our regime which is at stake,' said Jean-Marc Ayrault, leader of the Socialist deputies in the lower house of parliament, as the special session opened on Monday.

The left-wing Liberation daily showed a front-page cartoon of Mr Sarkozy standing on a throne with sceptre and orb in hand. 'Who can deny the monarchic connotations of today's ritual at the Sun King's Castle?' its editorial asked.

The president's Versailles speech will set the scene for a minor cabinet reshuffle, to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday, which is likely to pursue his strategy of recruiting left-wingers and ethnic minority figures.

Official statistics this week brought Mr Sarkozy's government a ray of hope, predicting the recession gripping the French economy, the worst for 60 years, might ease at the end of the year. But until then his economic team faces a tough year-end, with tens of thousands of French workers set to swell the ranks of the unemployed as dozens of industrial layoff plans linked to the crisis kick in. -- AFP