He made an ambitious promise (Declaration of Intent): "We will deliver record sales growth over the next three years" and committed to specific targets.
Like his friend Tony Blair, Sarkozy regards pledges as not promises but vague declarations of intent, mood music played out against the tapestry of power.
"True recognition cannot stand merely as an acknowledgement of historical injustice – it must be a declaration of intent, a promise of meaningful improvements".
Remember: a promise is just a statement of intent, not a guarantee of a particular future outcome.
I can only tell you this much: at the time of my writing this - and I am writing this live, online, straight into the editor - my intention is to finish this blog-project, but, as you have probably learned from life, a promise is just a statement of intent, not a guarantee.
A firm statement of intent had been promised but, despite the emphatic margin, this was England at their most cryptic.
But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government, weakened by internal strife, delivered only promises, handing officials in Brussels a letter of intent describing hoped-for measures.
"The investigation is a welcome sign of good intent, but promises of zero-tolerance must be kept, and those responsible brought to justice in fair trials," .
"All the the good intent and promises of state agencies saying that permits will protect the environment are useless if those permits are not enforced.
And the Murree declaration, which says nothing about Mr Musharraf, seems more a statement of intent to restore the judges than a promise.
In place of the letters of intent that spelled out the changes Indonesia promised to set in motion in return for I.M.F.
