Paris to get all clear on EU deficit penalty

EU finance ministers are set to drop a penalty procedure against France on Tuesday (30 January) for breaking the bloc's deficit ceilings, with Germany expected to follow in June.

The Ecofin meeting will give its approval of the European Commission's proposal to abolish the disciplinary action triggered in 2003 after France's budget deficit had breached the EU's limit of 3 percent of GDP.

Back in 2003, Europe's second-biggest economy recorded a deficit of 4.2 percent, but Paris ma...