France, Italy see leeway on budget rules at EU summit

France and Italy won support for a slightly more growth-friendly interpretation of European Union budget rules at a summit on Thursday after French President Francois Hollande challenged German-driven fiscal austerity.

The 27 EU leaders agreed, after debating how to overcome mass unemployment and recession unleashed by three years of the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis, to allow greater leeway for public investment when reducing government deficits.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1191342/france-italy-see-leeway-budget-rules-eu-summit