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Article: Fury as France defies EU by refusing to cut budget
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- October 9, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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FRANCE DEFIED unprecedented criticism of its economic policy
yesterday, insisting it would stick to spending plans attacked by the
other 11 members of the single currency.
After a stormy five-hour meeting of finance ministers in
Luxembourg, France's isolation was made explicit in a joint
declaration that "all ministers but one" had agreed to start cutting
national budgets.
Francis Mer, France's Finance Minister, remained unapologetic,
saying the government in Paris - which won an election this summer on
a series of spending pledges - would not start to make efforts to
fall into line until 2004.
"For 2003, we decided there were other priorities in France - for
example, increases in ...