France to defy deficit limits

FRENCH Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin defied calls to bring the budget deficit below European limits, urging the rest of Europe to join France in steps to boost economic growth and employment.

France, the second largest of the 12 eurozone countries, will not be bound by European Commission pleas to cut spending or raise taxes immediately and may surpass the deficit limit until 2006, Raffarin said.

“The commission will do its job and the French government will do its job,’ Raffarin said, after meeting the commission’s president, Romano Prodi in Brussels. France’s “main duty” is to spur growth and employment, Raffarin said.