MNI BRIEF: Room For EU-France Deal On Debt Plan Changes
MNI (LONDON) - There is room to amend France's "very ambitious" debt plan without risking it being rejected by Brussels, a senior EU official said Thursday.
The official said that, given the ambition of the existing French plan which "exceeded the minimum requirements" of the EU's fiscal rules, there was probably space to make amendments and therefore "room" for compromise between France and the EU on any changes to its medium-term debt plan, the official said.
The comments follow a speech by new French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Tuesday which confirmed the French deficit could be 5.4% of GDP this year, compared with the 5% target of the previous government. (see MNI: Brussels To Cling To Barnier Govt Spending Control Pledge )
The EU official said that France had not submitted an amended medium-term debt plan yet and so far had given no indication that it would.