Brussels, 27/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has "taken note" of the audit carried out by the French Government, announcing a 2.3 to 2.6% deficit for 2002, instead of the 1.8 to 1.9% announced by the previous government, Grassimos Thomas, spokesman for Commissioner Pedro Solbes, announced on Thursday. He stipulated that the Commission "is waiting to see what measures the French government will take to consolidate the budget in 2002" before taken a decision on whether or not to send a warning to France. He recalled that Member States have to notify deficit figures by 1 September, for the exercise of the autumn evaluation.
When presenting the results of the audit, French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he had the "feeling that a growth rate in the order of 3% (in 2002) is not impossible (…), which would significantly help us go along the lines of our European commitments" (France had secured from the European Council of Seville that the objective of a balance in 2004 should be linked to the growth rate).
Mr. Solbes spokesman also said that the Commission had also "taken note" of the 2002 deficit announced by the new Portuguese Government, which justifies the warning the Commission sent at the beginning of the year and Eurostat's refusal to validate the Portuguese figures for 2001.