All eyes on France

Date: 05/06/1997

MEETINGS of finance ministers are all too often billed as crunch, key or crucial. But next week's gathering in Luxembourg actually qualifies for these adjectives as participants clamour to hear the views of their new French counterpart.

A week after a simple attempt to revalue gold reserves turned into a full-scale battle of power between the Bundesbank and the German finance ministry, the single currency deadline of January 1999 is being questioned as never before.

Ministers want to know whether new French Premier Lionel Jospin (pictured above) and his finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn are serious about reopening the debate over establishing a political counterweight to the European Central Bank.

More importantly, they are keen to find out whether their party is serious about carrying out its campaign promises: 350,000 new public sector jobs and a rise in the minimum wage. Unless offset by further budget cuts, these would make it impossible for Paris to bring the deficit down to 3&percent; of gross domestic product by the end of the year - its entry ticket into EMU.