Francois Fillon has declared victory in the conservative presidential primary over his more moderate rival Alain Juppe.

Juppe conceded defeat in the country's first-ever conservative presidential primary and congratulated Fillon for a "wide victory.

Juppe, a former prime minister who had long been considered the favourite for the primary, made the concession announcement after results showed him garnering 32 per cent of the vote to Fillon's 68 per cent.

The backdrop is a jobless rate of 10 per cent, weak economic growth, concern about the survival of a costly but valued welfare state, worries about globalisation, immigration, security and the threat of further deadly attacks by Islamist militants.

Fillon proposes a supply-side economic strategy with cuts in public spending, loosening restrictions on the length of the working week, and raising the retirement age.

He is also a social conservative who wants to limit adoption rights of gay couples and he has called for warmer ties with Russia.

ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT
* A return to a legal work week of 39 hours in the public and private sectors, up from the 35-hour week.

PUBLIC-SECTOR JOBS:
* Trim by 500,000

PENSIONS/RETIREMENT AGE:
* Raise the pensionable age of retirement to 65, from around 62-63 and end special early-retirement provisions for state workers.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS:
* Cap jobless benefits at 75 per cent of wages before the job was lost, followed by gradual decreases

PUBLIC FINANCES:
* Cut public spending by 100 billion euros over five years.

TAXATION:
* Cut taxes and welfare charges by 50 billion euros starting from the fourth quarter of 2017.
* Scrap wealth tax
* Cut corporate profit tax rate to 25 per cent.

SECURITY/COUNTER-TERRORISM:
* No rise in police numbers but arming of municipal police and use of private security firms for some police surveillance tasks.

IMMIGRATION:
* A proposed overhaul for Europe's Schengen pact on external and internal border controls.
* Support for a European external frontier police force.
* Annual quota for intake of immigrants to come under the control of parliament and be written into the French constitution.

FAMILY:
* Won't end same-sex marriage as enshrined in a 2013 law but wants to limit gay couples' adoption rights.

FOREIGN POLICY:
* Says France reassert itself alongside the United States following the election of Donald Trump. Also wants closer ties with Moscow.

SYRIA
* Advocates working with Russia and a more active engagement with Assad and Iran in findiung a solution to the conflict in Syria.

EUROPE:
* Supports the European Union and advocates stronger decision-making ties between euro zone countries.

RUSSIA:
* Stridently positive policy towards Russia, saying it is no threat, should be a partner in Syria and that European sanctions against Russia imposed after its annexation of Crimea should be lifted.