The EU officially recommended that France be removed from Brussels' public spending penalty box, handing a victory to French President Emmanuel Macron in his push to gain the trust of austerity-pushing Germany.
France may no longer be the eurozone's deficit "dunce" but President Emmanuel Macron must do more to improve the country's finances "if he wants to be the leader in Europe", the EU's economy commissioner said on Sunday.
France said Wednesday it has been ordered to pay back 10 billion euros ($12 billion) to big companies after overtaxing them on dividend payouts, a cost that threatens to blow French deficit targets off course.
France's Socialist government on Thursday was cheered by the news the country's public deficit had been cut. Paris is under pressure from Brussels to bring its public finances under control.
French PM Manuel Valls told Brussels that 'punishing' France would only fuel anti-EU sentiment and that Paris would not implement any reforms that would harm the economy's chances of growth.
The outlook for the struggling French economy looked even bleaker on Tuesday when Brussels predicted the country's public deficit would become the biggest in the eurozone by 2016, due to falling investment and poor economic growth.
Crisis-hit France, which has come under fire from the European Union for breaking the bloc's spending rules, announced "new measures" and "clarifications" to its budget Monday to reduce its deficit by €3.6 billion ($4.6 billion).
A group of rebels in France’s ruling Socialist Party flexed their muscles on Tuesday by refusing to back the government’s 2015 budget in a parliamentary vote. It's another sign of a growing split in President François Hollande's party.
France's eagerly awaited 2015 budget was revealed on Wednesday which includes €21 billion of savings, a hike in the tax on diesel fuel as well as income tax cuts. The country's deficit would be brought in line with EU rules by 2017.
Setting the stage for a possible conflict with Brussels and Berlin, France said on Wednesday it's putting off deficit reduction targets for two years. The delay comes as France struggles with a flat economy and political instability.
France and Europe were once again at odds on Monday over whether Paris will really achieve its EU target to cut its deficit as well as its predictions over the growth of its economy and a fall in unemployment.
The latest casualty of France’s mammoth belt-tightening drive is its luxurious ambassador’s residence in the heart of New York City which has just been put on the market. It’ll only cost you a cool $48 million for the 18-room two story duplex. Take a look inside here.
France will miss an agreed target to cut its public deficit, the EU said on Tuesday, with the latest economic forecasts saying that the French government deficit will hit 4.1 percent this year, 3.8 percent next year and still post a 2015 shortfall at 3.7 percent.
With France mired in economic crisis and stagnation, President François Hollande’s cabinet on Wednesday signed off on €15 billion worth of cuts and taxes. Here’s a breakdown of how Budget 2014 might affect you.
The price of electricity in France is set for a steep five-percent rise in August, followed by a further increase of five-percent at the same time next year, France’s new environment minister announced on Tuesday.
France announced a plan on Wednesday to bring its public deficit below the EU limit of 3.0 percent of GDP by 2014, one year later than expected. The project involves higher taxes, and finding savings in France's extensive social security system.
French central bank governor Christian Noyer said on Wednesday that France should freeze pensions, civil servant salaries and social benefits to save €40 billion by 2014 as it tries to cut a swollen public deficit and jumpstart growth.
France's public deficit would probably amount to 3.7 percent of national output this year, President François Hollande admitted on Tuesday, publicly renouncing his government's goal of coming in below the EU limit of three percent.
France needs an extra €6 billion in revenues next year, the budget minister said on Monday, and the European Central Bank said it had to act fast to cut spending and retain credibility after slashing the 2013 growth forecast.
France's public deficit is set to be worse than expected in 2013 and 2014, veering up to 3.7 percent of output this year and 3.9 percent next year, the European Commission said on Friday.
The European Commission welcomed on Friday efforts by France to reform its struggling economy but played down suggestions that it might give Paris more time to meet public deficit targets.
France's defence budget has been spared the severe cuts expected to be enforced in other areas of government spending next year, defence ministry sources said on Thursday.
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<p>France raised more than €7.9 billion ($10.3 billion) via the sale of short-term bonds on Monday at lower rates than during the previous comparable sale and amid strong demand, the body charged with carrying out the sales said.</p>
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