France Terrorism
French President Francois Hollande lays a wreath during a ceremony for victims of terrorism in Paris Michel Euler/ AP

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said the state of emergency that was imposed last year after the terror attacks in Paris could be extended as France gets ready for its presidential elections.

France is marking the first anniversary of the attacks by Islamist militants, in which at least 130 people died. In an interview to BBC's Stephen Sackur, Valls said: "It is difficult today to end the state of emergency."

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"Especially since we are going to begin a presidential campaign in a few weeks with meetings, with public gatherings. So we must also protect our democracy," he told the BBC's HARDtalk anchor.

He elaborated saying: "Besides, this state of emergency device allows us to make arrests, administrative checks which are effective... So yes, we are probably going to live a few months more with this state of emergency."

The emergency was imposed on the night of the Paris attacks and was extended for six months in July. Valls added that the risk of such attacks appeared to have gone down but insisted that he remained "very cautious".

"But we may face attacks of the kind that we saw in Nice," he said. In that attack, a 31-year-old Tunisian man driving a lorry ploughed down 86 people.

"That's to say some individuals who are driven directly by the internet, by social networks, by the Islamic Sate group, without having to go to Syria or Iraq."

On Sunday, France's President Francois Hollande and the mayor of Paris will unveil plaques to honour the victims at the six sites of the attacks.