Brussels, 17/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, Eurostat published its verification of the data on government deficit and debt in 2002 transmitted by Member States, results which confirm that the European Commission will launch excess deficit proceedings against France. The Commission has welcomed Portugal's respect of its pledge to bring its public deficit down to below 3% in 2002 (2.7%).
France's public deficit was revised upwards to 3.1% of GDP in 2002 (compared with the 3.04%...