France’s 2025 budget will be “fully” in line with new European Union spending rules, Finance Minister Antoine Armand promised ahead of his first meeting with EU counterparts on Monday, French media reported.
The new minister will present a national budget on Thursday that Paris hopes will tackle France’s “colossal” debt by cutting spending and introducing new taxes.
“We have prepared a budget to strengthen the country’s financial and national sovereignty,” Armand told a media briefing, adding that compliance with EU rules was “a matter of international credibility”.
Brussels has already rebuked France for breaking budget rules, placing the country in a formal procedure in July as its deficit exceeds three per cent. France is due to submit a plan to reduce its budget deficit, but Paris was given a reprieve after a new government had to be appointed following snap elections.
France aims to improve its fiscal position by about 60 billion euros ($66 billion) in 2025, hoping to bring the public sector deficit to five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) from 6.1 per cent this year.
Armand praised France’s ambition to reduce the deficit below the level set by EU rules.
“Our objective is to bring our deficit below the three percent mark by 2029,” he said, which is two years longer than his predecessor Bruno Le Maire’s promise earlier in 2024.
He reiterated that France aims to reduce the deficit to five per cent next year. Armand also added:
“The prime minister has given me a very clear mandate: to defend French and European interests in the world in economic and financial matters.”
Later on Monday, the minister will travel to Luxembourg for a meeting with his eurozone counterparts, where he will deliver a speech on France’s policy priorities.
