European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said France should present a credible structural reform program, after new data showed Europe's second largest economy is slipping into recession.
Barroso, who will meet with French President Francois Hollande in Brussels, said that, as directed by the European Union (EU) France to pursue reforms two years to bring the budget deficit down to 3 percent of economic output as promised.
"The extension will be approved if the French present a credible reform program so that it can regain competitiveness," Barroso said, as quoted by Reuters on Wednesday (05/15/2013).
Earlier, the French parliament passed the state labor reform, as part of Hollande's efforts to convince the European partners that it is committed to economic reform.
However, preliminary data showed the French economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013. On that basis, Mr Barroso said that France should prove
commitment to pursue further structural reforms. "The truth is that France has lost its competitiveness over the last 20 years," he said.
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