One of the EU’s financial regulations requires that the budget deficit does not exceed 3 per cent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP).

Hollande sent a letter to Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, which called for deeper discussions to form a “balanced budgetary policy” for the Eurozone. He suggested budgetary rules be applied in a manner favourable to investment and employment.

For his part, Renzi called on the EU to renew its approach to the economic growth, recognizing that the bloc was at a crossroads and needed to recover following years of economic decline and stagnation.