Brussels, 30/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 1 July, the European Commission will approve the additional measures tabled by France early in June to comply with its commitment to bring its structural budgetary effort (not including conjunctural effect) to 0.5% of GDP for 2015.
This has been confirmed to EUROPE by two European sources, who both feel that given the current situation in the eurozone, this is a non-event (see EUROPE 11299 and 11295).
The measures are as follows: - the French state and its operators will contribute €2.4 billion to the required effort, notably by reducing the servicing of the public debt; - Social Security will make a contribution of €1 billion (cutting €400 million of the national sickness insurance expenditure target and €600 million for the rest of the social plank); - additional revenue of €600 million, including €400 million from the regularisation of assets held abroad.
The Ecofin Council had set France the condition of committing to additional structural budgetary effort in the order of €3 to €4 billion in return for an extra two years (from 2015 to 2017) to bring its deficit below 3% of GDP. For 2016 and 2017, Paris forecasts a 'classical' structural budgetary effort (0.5% of GDP a year) in the framework of its €50 billion savings programme over the period 2015-2017, including €21 billion in 2015. However, the Ecofin Council is calling for greater efforts to be made (0.8% of GDP in 2016 and 0.9% in 2017). (Mathieu Bion)