French President Emmanuel Macron attends a news conference following talks on European Union integration, defence and migration at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France August 28, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted euro zone countries to set up a budget worth “several points of the euro zone’s GDP”, which would be funded by a share of taxation currently going to national budgets.

Macron, who was elected in May on a pro-EU platform and had touted plans for a euro zone budget before, gave more details about the reform he plans to outline after the German elections, in a wide-ranging interview with Le Point magazine published on its website on Wednesday.

“The creation of such a budget would first of all mean establishing a minimum level of solidarity to eventually be able to raise money in common, invest and absorb economic shocks that could hit Europe again,” he told the paper.

“Europe’s fiscal policy is too restrictive today compared with those of China, Russia or the United States, and our jobless are paying the price,” he added.