BRUSSELS (AFX) - EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes said both France and Germany have a "clear commitment" to fulfil the objectives of their EMU stability programmes.
"From the information we have from France and Germany from both sides there's a clear commitment to fulfil the objectives of the (EMU) stability pact programmes," he told a press conference on the Commission's annual report on "Public Finances in EMU".
He had earlier warned that both countries still had sizeable budget deficits which must be lowered next year.
Despite the economic slowdown they do not have scope to let their deficits swell, he said.
According to the stability programmes, France had a deficit of 1.4 pct in 2000, will lower it to 1.0 pct this year and 0.6 pct next year, while Germany, which had a deficit of 1.0 pct last year, will see it rise to 1.5 pct this year and fall to 1.0 pct in 2002.