British taxpayers are funding the French economy through the EU[GETTY]

We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow

France will get a colossal £22billion handout, up to £2.8billion of which will come from the UK.

Most of the money will be spent on training and education in a bid to slash unemployment revive France’s economic fortunes by the end of the decade.

Critics warned it means British taxpayers’ will be effectively forking out up to £2.8 billion over the next seven years to help prop up one of the world’s biggest economy’s.

It also serves as another embarrassment for deeply unpopular Socialist French President Francoise Hollande who has seen unemployment rocket to record levels – 3.4 million – under his watch.

Growth has also stagnated. The French economy did not grow at all in the first three months of the year with some analysts dubbing it the “sick man” of Europe.

Details of the massive handout come just a week after the Daily Express revealed Portugal is to be given £20 billion to help kick-start is floundering economy.

Under the latest scheme France will have access to an extra €27.8 billion euros (£22bn) in European Commission funds between 2014 and 2020.

Some €15.9 billion (£12.7bn) is available for training and education, €11.4 billion (£9.1bn) for rural development and €588 million (£470) for France’s fisheries and maritime sector.