In spite of the concern and pessimism about the arrival of a socialist president at the Elysium in a moment of deep crisis for Europe, the Presidency of François Holland will present, from different points of view, several points of continuity with that of the outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Jean Pierre Dernis, senior research fellow, deputy head of the Security and Defence department at the IAI, expounded this idea during a round table at the Institute on May 7th, the day after the run-off of the 2012 French presidential elections.