It should not come as a complete surprise, yet it is still very irritating to learn that France has again been given respite by the European Union to bring its fiscal house in order. The French have thus avoided a penalty under the Stability Pact that governs the fiscal policies of those countries that have adopted the Euro. A number of smaller countries – The Netherlands being one of them – are annoyed and with very good reason:

They are upset that France, and also Germany, appear to be ignoring EU rules with impunity while they - the smaller nations - were obliged to introduce painful cuts in public spending in order to meet them.

France’s argument against making the necessary budgetary cuts earlier is centered around the notion that fiscal restraint would endanger economic growth. Well, the argument against that is that they should have thought about that earlier and something tells me that the French have known all along that they would be able to get away with skirting the rules. By avoiding the fiscal burdens that other countries did carry in order to be compliant with the terms of the Stability Pact, France has clearly indicated that it will selectively interpret multilateral agreements. That should be a warning for especially the smaller European countries before they commit to any further integration with bullies like France. Once you’re in it’s hard to get out.