Hollande calls for flexibility in EU budget rules
French President François Hollande called on Tuesday for flexibility in applying EU budget rules, just ahead of a key summit in Brussels on Thursday.
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According to French daily Le Monde, Hollande wrote in a letter to the European Council that "France proposes that budgetary rules be applied in a manner favourable to investment and employment".
His call comes on the same day as Italy's Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, asked for a shake-up in Europe's approach to growth.
"It is about taking full advantage of flexibility to take into account reforms undertaken by countries and their economic situations" wrote Hollande.
Although France and Italy have denied seeking to change the rule that limits the annual deficit to three per cent, they have been pushing for a rethink of budget policies and German-backed austerity.
Hollande raised concerns about weak inflation which is flagged up as a risk to economic activity.
And Renzi warned that there can be no stability possible if there is no growth.
France's growth prediction is about 0.9 percent in 2014, and is expected to rise to 1.5 percent in 2015.
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