A demand by France for more leeway in imposing Berlin-backed austerity policies has reignited a fight at the core of the eurozone over how to promote growth in countries struggling to pull out of recession.
Paris traded blows with Brussels yesterday over the vexed issue after President François Hollande made clear that a day after appointing a new premier, he wanted a delay in meeting budget deficit targets to allow room for his new growth plan.
Arnaud Montebourg, the outspoken leftwing industry minister who is to take a prominent role in the new government, condemned the commission for its “austerity and dogma” and for being “totally useless on the question of growth”.