France spreads EMU message

Paris - France is to make its commitment to the single European currency the thrust of its diplomacy, writes Mary Dejevsky.

All French embassies have been instructed to spread the message - less than a month after the franc was unsettled by speculation about a rift between President Jacques Chirac and the Bank of France over the level of French interest rates.

It seems a move designed to calm fears in Germany about France's ability to meet the Maastricht criteria on time. The Foreign Minister, Herve de Charette, told senior French diplomats yesterday that the single currency was "Europe's true federal project". The timetable would be respected.

But with unemployment remaining high, and economic growth projections being revised downwards, many doubt that France will qualify to join the single currency at the start.