PARIS — After weeks of protests and strikes, President Jacques Chirac announced plans today to "replace" a law that would have made it easier for companies to fire workers under age 26.

The deal represents a defeat for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had insisted on the law as a means of reducing high unemployment rates among young people.

Chirac's office said the president decided to "replace" a key provision of the law with a measure aimed at "youths in difficulty."

Many youths and unions feared the contract would damage coveted job security, but Villepin said he had sought a "better balance ... between more flexibility for the employer and more security for workers."