Not long ago, before the euro existed, French politicians would have felt uncomfortable presenting a budget in deficit. The devaluation of the franc against the Deutschmark was unpalatable at home and would have provoked a costly reaction from the markets. The single currency appears to have worked since as an anaesthetic. On the eve of the European Commission’s scrutiny of its 2015 budget – and after overshooting its deficit-reduction targets for a third time – France displays a disconcerting air of nonchalance.
不久前,也就是在歐元誕生之前,法國政治人士若遞交一份帶赤字的預算,會覺得很不舒服。那時,法國法郎對德國馬克貶值會在法國國內引起不滿,還會刺激市場作出帶來嚴重后果的反應。自歐元誕生以來,該單一貨幣似乎起到了一種麻醉劑的作用。在歐盟委員會(European Commission)審查其2015年預算前夕,面對第三次未實現減赤目標的局面,法國卻表現得滿不在乎。這種情緒有點令人不安。