Socialist challenger François Hollande would renegotiate EU deal

François Hollande, who is the Socialist Party candidate for next year’s presidential elections in France and currently leading in opinion polls, says if he were elected he would re-negotiate last week’s EU fiscal pact.

Reuters/Charles Platiau

Last week, all EU countries except Britain looked set to sign a pact which gives the EU more control over national budgets.

The framework of the pact was thrashed out after detailed negotiations between France and Germany, and put to other EU nations last Thursday.

François Hollande said he would renegotiate the pact to add what he said was missing from the deal. “I’d see to it that we add…ECB intervention, Eurobonds and a financial bail-out fund to respond to what is today the pressure of the markets”

All of these measures were explicitly opposed by Germany in the run-up to last week’s deal.

Hollande’s Socialists have accused Sarkozy of capitulating to German pressure, while he has accused them of undermining French policy by criticising the deficit reduction plan.