The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, deemed on Sunday January 16 “
obsolete
” the European rules governing the public debt of the Member States.
The Stability and Growth Pact "
as a whole is not obsolete, but the public debt rule is
", he argues in an interview when France took over the presidency of the Council of the EU.
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Under this rule, the public debt of member states must not exceed 60% of their GDP and their deficit cannot exceed 3% of their GDP. “
Before the crisis, there was a gap of almost 40 points of GDP between the most and least indebted members of the euro zone. There is now a gap of more than 100% between them,
”notes Bruno Le Maire.
To reform the Pact, "
there are several proposals on the table, in particular that of having different timetables and objectives for each country
", explains the minister.
"
Others put forward the concept (...) according to which it should be up to the Member States to define the steps and the necessary changes to their economic policies, which would allow them to return to sound finances
", an "
interesting
track for Bruno Le Maire.
"The Right Balance"
Ultimately, it will be necessary to “
find the right balance between the investments needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century and the need to return to sound public finances.
»
In this interview with seven European newspapers, including the French daily
Les Echos
, he said he hoped to get rid of “
all health restrictions
” linked to the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of the year.
Faced with the progression of the Omicron variant on national territory, the French executive reinforced health restrictions at the end of December, in particular by reintroducing gauges for major events and by encouraging the use of telework at least three days a week.