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Mr Oettinger, the EU’s budget commissioner, has called for the bloc to begin an excessive deficit procedure against France’s 2019 draft budget. The same crackdown was used to threaten Italy after Rome’s populist government decided to substantially increase spending despite the country’s growing debt pile. In an interview with German news magazine Focus, Mr Oettinger said Brussels should begin an excessive deficit procedure against France because the country, apart from in 2017, has violated “the new debt rule for the eleventh year in a row”.

He added: “And the extra money that Mr Macron has promised now, are not just one-time Christmas gifts, but they are permanent structural expenses.” Th EU's so-called excessive deficit procedure gives countries the opportunity to resubmit a changed budget or face huge financial sanctions. Fines under the procedure could start at 0.2 percent of France's entire GDP – meaning Paris would be charged around €15 billion unless it fixes its budget. Mr Macron, the French President, announced billion-euro concessions after weeks of violent protests by the so-called ‘Yellow Jacket’ movement in Paris.

EU news: Gunther Oettinger calls for sanctions on France after Emmanuel Macron budget hikes

He promised to scrap a new fuel tax and a tax hike on pensions under €2,000, and increase the minimum wage as part of a €10 billion concessions package to stop the growing movement. The Yellow Jacket protest – named because demonstrators have worn high visibility vests – have dominated French discourse for weeks. Hundreds of thousands of riot police have been drafted in amid scenes of violence and destruction as protesters ransacked shops along the Champs-Elysees and vandalised a statue on the Arc de Triomphe. But the fresh spending is set to violate strict EU fiscal rules as the French government expects a 3.2 percent spending deficit, increasing from an originally planned 2.8 percent for 2019.

The EU only permits a maximum 3 percent deficit in its post-financial crisis rulebook for the Eurozone. Mr Oettinger has demanded that France and Italy do more to reduce public debt. He said: "Despite the past six years of good economic growth, France and Italy have about the same debt percentage as in 2013, with 95 percent and more than 130 percent of GDP respectively. "This means neither country has used historically low interest rates to reduce debts in real terms."

The German's comments have sparked an internal EU row with Pierre Moscovici, the commissioner responsible for the economy. The French commissioner said: "I totally disagree with my colleague, you can not dismiss France so easily." Sven Giegold, the economic and financial spokesman for Greens in the European Parliament, accused Mr Oettinger of "premature showmanship". Mr Giegold said: "Gunther Oettinger's announcement in a pre-Christmas interview is a premature showmanship.