France Defends Spending Push That Puts EU Deficit Limit at Risk
- Initial indications are that protests will keep going
- Macron raises miniumum wage, cuts taxes for pensioners
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
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French government ministers defended a raft of new spending measures and tax cuts announced by President Emmanuel Macron, signaling that containing the monthlong Yellow Vests crisis will take priority over European Union budget rules.
“Do you think we can act at the European level as if nothing’s happened?” Energy Minister Francois de Rugy said on Radio Classique, citing the Brexit vote in Britain and the rise of far-right parties in Germany. “We aren’t saying that long term the debt isn’t a problem. But the first priority is not to discuss this with Brussels, but with the French people.”