Brussels, 17/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Just a few days from the meeting of the Ecofin Council in Madrid on Thursday, an official of the German government affirmed, on Monday, that the French budgetary deficit could reach 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. He stressed Berlin's hope that all European Union countries would respect the aim of reaching budgetary situations "close to balance" in 2004. Otherwise, he said, the European Central Bank (ECB) would have to raise its interest rates, which would be detrimental to the German economy. "If we create conditions (…) that help the ECB to take the plunge, it would not be good for us", he said.
In this context, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with the daily, Handelsblatt, that insufficient economic growth could force Member States' governments concerned to relax the aim of a return to budgetary balance in 2004. Finance Ministers must discuss the conditions in which the aim of budgetary consolidation will be reached, he added, noting that the Germans have already cited these conditions (growth of 2.5% at least in 2003 and in 2004).