François Hollande would destroy France's economy 'within two days', Nicolas Sarkozy claims "Certain countries in Europe are today on the edge of a precipice," he warned, accusing Mr Hollande, his Socialist challenger, of promising "a festival of new spending that no-one knows how to pay for, as if the world did not exist, Europe did not exist, the crisis did not exist." Promising to balance the budget by 2016, he said parliament would pass a "golden rule" in July obliging governments to have a plan to balance their books. The Right-winger said he would continue to reduce the size of the French state, mainly by replacing half of retiring state sector workers and would save 115 billion euros - three quarters through cuts and the rest via tax rises. "We cannot refuse to make the historic choice of competitiveness, innovation and reducing public spending," he said. He also confirmed his commitment to freeze France's contribution to the European Union's common budget - a measure Britain and seven other EU nations back - which he said would save 600 million euros per year. Mr Hollande published his 60-point presidential plan back in January and on Wednesday detailed the calendar for his first year in office. Immediate measures included capping fuel prices, introducing a 75 per cent supertax on high earners, and partially reversing a pension reform. He also intends to amend the EU fiscal pact to add a growth chapter. Seeking to reassure the French and markets that he would not go on a spending spree, the Socialist promised to order the Court of Auditors to "carry out an evaluation immediately ... and freeze certain spending once we have the results." But Mr Sarkozy warned that Mr Hollande would be hamstrung by leftists, warning it would take "two days to knock down five years of (economic) efforts" if the Socialist won. Today, the sanction is immediate. Mr Sarkozy said he had printed six million copies of a "Letter to the French people" outlining his pledge to short circuit "elites" and "intermediaries" through referendums on welfare and immigration. There was a chapter on security and the Toulouse murders, and another warning against Europe becoming a "sieve" to illegal immigration. He also called for a mass rally of the "silent majority" to support him on Paris' central Place de la Concorde on April 15 - a week before the first ballot. Mr Hollande will hold a mega-rally the same day in Villepinte, outside the capital.