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New era as Brussels tightens its grip on budget miscreants
Four months ago, President Francois Hollande warned Brussels not to tell France how to run its finances. In a few weeks' time, the European Commission will do exactly that as a new era of rigid fiscal surveillance begins in Europe. In one of the most far-reaching responses to the region's debt crisis, the Commission, the EU's executive, will now run the rule over the budget plans of the 17 euro zone countries before they are fully digested by national parliaments. The aim is to raise a red flag before it is too late and prevent a repeat of the turmoil of the past four years, which began because countries were living ... (full story)