IT MAY not have been a surprise, but it was still a small triumph for France. On May 29th the European Commission approved a request to postpone by two years, to 2015, France’s target for cutting its budget deficit to 3% of GDP. It relaxed the targets for several other countries as well, but it was the French let-off that was most striking. In return, the commission took a firm line on reforms, calling on the French government to do more to overhaul pensions, simplify taxes, cut spending and liberalise the economy and labor market in order to fix what it called a “serious” competitiveness problem.Much of the credit for the deal belongs to Pierre Moscovici, France’s finance minister. When it became clear last year that France was not going to hit the 3% target—long before the government had admitted it—he began quiet talks with Olli Rehn, the EU economics commissioner. The two men, one a French Socialist, the other a Finnish Liberal, make an odd couple, yet they have built “an excellent relationship”, says a senior official.Mr Moscovici also established workmanlike ties with Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s Christian Democrat finance minister. Mr Schäuble’s support was…
The Economist: Europe
