Google – AFP, 11 November 2013
European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivers a speech in
Frankfurt am
Main, central Germany, on November 5, 2013 (DPA/AFP Photo,
Frank Rumpenhorst)
|
Brussels —
France's fiscal policy has "reached the limits of acceptability",
with high company taxes weighing on growth, the head of the European Commission
told French television late Monday.
Even though
France's proposed budget is "overall satisfactory", José Manuel
Barroso told the LCI network: "Today, the fiscal policy in France has
reached the limits of acceptability.
"France
is by far the country (in the EU) where companies pay the highest taxes and
that's a problem for growth and employment."
He urged
Paris to "reduce public spending", while noting that some effort in
that direction was included in the proposed budget.
The
European Commission on Friday is to give its evaluation of each country in the
eurozone in a new measure implemented as part of the effort to stabilise the
fragile single currency area.
Rating
agency S&P last week downgraded French debt by one notch and expressed
concerns about policies to reduce the public deficit and raise competitivity.
France, the
eurozone's second-biggest economy, exited recession with 0.5 percent growth in
the second quarter, but is still limping.
The
eurozone's biggest economy, Germany, on the other hand is blazing along, with
data last week showing its trade surplus had hit a record high above six
percent of GDP.
Barroso
said the Commission was planning on Wednesday to "do a deep analysis"
of imbalances in the German economy.
"It's
true that the German surplus is above what is normal," he said.
Eurozone
partners, the IMF and the United States worry that Germany's economy, driven by
exports and relatively weak on domestic consumption, is proving a problem to
eurozone recovery.
Barroso
said: "There are some countries that have lost export markets, for
instance France, Britain, Italy. We have to work together so we all become more
competitive."
On the
subject of his mandate, Barroso said he was ready to step down at the end of
his second term in October 2014.
"Ten
years is already a lot. But I want to work to the last minute for Europe,"
he said.
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