Frankrijk, Duitsland en Groot-Brittannië gaan economisch beleid meer op elkaar afstemmen (en)

In an interview with French daily Le Figaro, French finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said that France, Germany and the UK are ready to include common measures in their national budgets to become more co-ordinated economically.

Mr Sarkozy - widely seen as a successor to French President Jacques Chirac - said, "Europe, today has a common market, a common currency and a common central bank but, alas, there is no common economic policy".

"For the next budget, I have proposed to my [European] partners that we should take together new initiatives which will allow us to harmonise our macroeconomic approaches, to arrange together how our tax systems operate and to promote together initiatives which favour research and development", he continued.

"We need to keep identical measures in our budgets. Germany, Belgium and Great Britain are ready [to take] this common engagement", concluded Mr Sarkozy.

Although France and Germany have often argued in favour of closer economic co-ordination, the UK is traditionally more sceptical, having not joined the common currency and being wary of tax harmonisation.

Mr Sarkozy also called for a change in the "spirit" of the beleaguered stability and growth pact - the economic rules that underpin the euro.

"The rule which aims to keep public deficits below three percent of gross domestic product seems to be relevant. But the spirit of the pact needs to be reformed".

He said that "the priority of economic policies in Europe [must be] growth and employment".