President Francois Hollande's insistence that the EU executive can't "dictate" reforms to France has outraged Angela Merkel's conservatives, hours before the German leader was due in Paris for talks.
Unveiling reform recommendations for the 27-nation European Union on Wednesday, May 29 the European Commission urged Hollande to rein in public spending, revamp pensions and cut labor costs in return for a two-year reprieve on budget deficit cuts.
French officials broadly welcomed the recommendations as being in line with reform plans already sent to Brussels. But Hollande, who was on a trip through rural France with reporters, warned the Commission not to overstep itself.
With concern growing in EU economic powerhouse Germany that the euro zone's second largest economy is slipping deeper into decline, Merkel allies immediately warned that France's attitude could undermine efforts to bolster the euro zone economy.
Paris says it expects to bring its deficit back under the upper limit well in time for the new 2015 deadline and is already preparing to reform France's generous pension system.
Hollande, who is particularly wary of upsetting negotiations on the issue, said earlier this month the French should expect to have to work "a bit longer".
He is looking more towards a possible increase in the period of pension contributions that French workers must make rather than any increase in the statutory retirement age.
Yet the Commission specifically listed an increase in the retirement age as a measure that France should examine, and warned it not to do anything which would increase the cost to its companies – remarks which had French officials bristling privately after they emerged.
