France vows to adhere to EU spending rules

Armand will also have to persuade the markets that he will achieve his goals.

Brussels has already rebuked France for breaking budget rules, placing the country under the formal procedure in July because its deficit is above the three per cent limit eurozone members are supposed to adhere to.

France must submit a multi-year plan to reduce its public deficit, but Paris obtained a delay after it took time to form a new government following snap elections.

Paris now has until October 31 to submit its budget plan to the European Commission, but discussions have already begun at a technical level between French and EU officials.

EU economy chief Paolo Gentiloni appeared to be cautiously optimistic about talks with France, telling reporters in Luxembourg that his conversations with the French minister were "promising" despite the "difficulties".

But Germany's finance minister warned against joking about with "the credibility of public finances with the financial markets", without directly referring to France.

"We must credibly reduce our deficit and our debt in order to be able to finance ourselves adequately and stably," said Christian Lindner, who often insists on the need for sound public finances.

'Sword of Damocles'

Armand was however bullish about France's push to reduce the deficit below EU rules.

"Our objective is to bring our deficit below the three per cent mark by 2029," he said, which is two years later than the promise made by his predecessor Bruno Le Maire in 2024.

In the short term, Armand aims to bring France's deficit down to five per cent in 2025 from 6.1 per cent this year.

"This is a serious, credible and ambitious trajectory for our country to fully respect the European budgetary rules," he later told reporters in Luxembourg.

Armand faces a delicate balancing act since his budget must please the markets and Brussels while ensuring it does not cause too much pain for citizens and businesses.

Time is short, however.