France has gained approval from the Council of the European Union for its strategy to progressively reduce its large deficit.

The EU member states' governing body, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, endorsed the European Commission's recommendation to approve the budget.

The plan aims to gradually bring down the debt to the EU's prescribed limit of 3% of economic output by 2029.

This year, the new government in Paris is targeting an initial deficit ratio of 5.4%, following the downfall of the previous government led by former EU commissioner Michel Barnier, which was overthrown by the opposition in a dispute over a more ambitious austerity budget.

As a result, France has yet to finalise a budget for the current year, and it remains uncertain which austerity measures Prime Minister François Bayrou will be able to implement in the divided parliament.

“We cannot leave such debt and such a deficit to our children and grandchildren,”, said French Finance Minister Éric Lombard, who thanked his EU counterparts and the European Commission.

With a debt ratio nearing 110% of its economic output in 2023, France is among the EU’s poorest performers, according to Eurostat. Only Greece (163.9%) and Italy (134.8%) have higher levels of debt, MSN reports.

As the second-largest economy in the EU, following Germany, France’s debt exceeds the union's limit, which mandates that a member state's debt should not surpass 60% of its economic output.

Simultaneously, the general government deficit, the gap between public income and expenditure, which is mainly financed through borrowing, must be maintained below 3% of the gross domestic product.