France's Hollande wants more flexibility to honor financial commitments

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday called for more flexibility "compatible with the rules that exist to meet ... commitments," after eurozone's largest economy lagged its partners to emerge from long-stagnated growth.
"France wants to meet its commitments but we want more margins of flexibility in order to trim budget deficit that should be in accordance with growth target," Hollande said after heading a summit of Europe's Leftists in Paris.
After reporting zero growth for the second straight quarter, the government slashed 2014 growth forecast to 0.5 percent from an initial target of 1 percent, arguing dim economic activities in the European block tainted businesses at home.
"For us, the main thing is to reshape Europe to be more responsive to the concerns of our citizens in employment and growth," Hollande said.
Few hours before heading to Brussels to attend the European Council summit to pick its main heads, Hollande announced Italy will host a European summit on growth and unemployment in October 6.
In 2013, the European Commission granted Paris extra time to rein in its finances and reduce its budget deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2015.
The French government consequently proposed a package of savings, including freezing pensions and welfare benefits for a year and keeping most civil service pay frozen until 2017.