France's new Prime Minister Dominiquede Villepin on Tuesday praised his predecessor Jean-Pierre Raffarin for hard work of implementing reforms.

"I want to pay tribute to the courageous and determined action of Jean-Pierre Raffarin," Villepin told reporters after the traditional power transfer meeting with Raffarin, hailing the outgoing premier for the "important, difficult, indispensable reforms" that he helped implement.

Raffarin resigned earlier in the day following France's rejection to the EU constitutional treaty.

Also on Tuesday, President Jacques Chirac accepted Raffarin's resignation and named Dominique de Villepin as a replacement.

He served as premier from Chirac's re-election in 2002 but saw his popularity rating take a nose-dive to all-time lows in recent months, especially after the French regional elections in March 2004.

Source: Xinhua