France ponders ripping up EU budget rules

Paris

NOBODY yet knows the winner of France's presidential election next year, but the smart money is on one loser: the 3-per cent cap on government deficits enshrined in eurozone rules.

The requirement, a bedrock of euro stability for some, to keep government deficits to below 3 per cent of gross domestic product is seen by many as an insufferable straightjacket on governments wanting to spend their way out of economic sluggishness.