The ministers from the 12-nation euro group sat down to talks in Luxembourg late last night Monday, ahead of a full meeting of economy and finance ministers (Ecofin) from the 15-member European Union today.
France is in the sights of many in the euro group after unveiling a draft budget for 2003 that puts the stress on reinvigorating dismal growth levels rather than balancing the books.
The European Commission has suggested pushing back a deadline for balanced finances among the euro nations by two years to 2006, with France, Germany, Italy and Portugal all almost certain to miss the original date.
The four are running public deficits close to the maximum of 3 per cent of gross domestic product allowed by the euro zone's Stability and Growth Pact, agreed in 1997 in a bid to give the currency solid fundamentals.
But while the other three nations are trying to get their deficits down, France is projecting no improvement in this year's projected shortfall of 2.6 percent of GDP, and is broaching a new deadline of 2007 or even later.
To some in the EU, France is thumbing its nose at Brussels and at the whole drive to redress persistent deficits which observers say undermine the euro's credibility.
"You can be sure that I will oppose it very strongly," Austrian finance minister Mr Karl-Heinz Grasser said when asked about putting back the 2004 date for balanced finances.
"It's for sure a huge weakening of the stability pact and I will not accept a weakening of that pact," he said on arrival for the meeting, noting that French president Mr Jacques Chirac had accepted the 2004 deadline at a June EU summit in Seville, Spain.
"And for sure it's the question (of) do we want to treat all countries equally - small countries and big countries," the Austrian minister added, echoing a complaint levelled by others that France is getting favourable treatment.
French prime minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin said his government was taking the criticism seriously but blamed the previous Socialist administration for the financial difficulties.
"We are not the worst students in the class," he said in an interview with yesterday's Progres de Lyon newspaper.
"But it goes without saying that we must make efforts to reduce our deficits. - (Reuters)
