French trade unions demonstrate outside the headquarters of Moody's Investor Services in Paris - the U.S. credit rating agency that has put the euro zone under review.<br/> A series of protests against austerity measures took place across France.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRADE UNIONIST ANNE LE LOIRAIRE SAYING:<br/> "It's through boosting the economy that growth will return. Not through the continual imposition of austerity plans on the population and on workers. There have to be other choices."<br/> French President Nicolas Sarkozy is imposing a series of spending cuts on the country in order to save its prized AAA rating and shore up confidence in the euro zone's ability to control its debt.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (French) MIKO, A PROTESTER, SAYING:<br/> "What we're seeing is a real war that is developing between governments and multinationals that have invented this system of rating agencies to floor governments one-by-one and to claw back all the social advantages from the citizens and workers, whether they are middle class or poor."<br/> Around 3,000 people took part in the demonstration, which headed towards the well-guarded National Assembly - the lower house of the French parliament.<br/> Together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Sarkozy last week drove through agreement for a treaty that would place caps on countries' deficits - an agreement which the United Kingdom refused to join.<br/> Nick Rowlands, Reuters.
