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France is now on set to discuss the proposal of the European Union to have the government budget reviewed first by Brussels before proceeding to national parliament, Frence Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said.

Lagarde stated that the proposed scheme would be of great advantage, reassuring parliament that “we are ready to pursue this debate with you”.

On Wednesday, the EU set out its plans to check budgets of its members before even reaching parliaments. The resolution provoked an intense response from the Swedish government, which claimed that only deficit-busting nations must be subjected to such check.

The union arrived at the idea alongside a measures package intended to make new pan-European governance, which is targeted towards combating the growth of state debt that places the financial stability of the eurozone in jeopardy.

Lagade told Frecnh lawmakers that she and Commissioner Olli Rehn of the EU Economic and Monetary Affairs had engaged in a phone conversation “to know exactly what was the nature of his proposal”.

“There is no question of examining all of the major budget items in each of the countries but rather giving some indication of the fundamental thrust and the balance”, Legarde added.

Meanwhile, the finance minister did not directly imply her stand on the proposal of the EU. Her reservations were confirmed by government spokesman Luc Chatel, who said, “It’s up to parliament to adopt the national budget”.

Aiding Greece in solving its debt problems is important for the stability of the euro zone; however, the group has to be firm with its members to prevent the reoccurrence of similar problems in the future, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said.

On Friday, the debt-ridden nation yielded to fiscal market pressure and appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its European partners for emergency loans.

When asked by Journal du Dimanche newspaper they would support Greece instead of expelling it from the bloc, Lagarde said, “It’s a cocktail of indulgence and great strictness. We want to stabilise. But that doesn’t prevent us from being firm, and we will need to watch the results very carefully”.

The French parliament will need to endorse the bailout plan, and the minister said she hoped that lawmakers would share the same belief that solidarity with an ailing partner doesn’t necessarily equate to being lax.

The bloc needs to be stricter in the future in controlling its less-disciplined members, she said.

“With its incorrect data and unsuitable economic policies, Greece hasn’t honoured its commitments. We will need stricter control mechanisms to make sure we don’t fall into a bottomless pit. All that will be the mission of the European Commission and the IMF”, said Lagarde.

To ensure that Greece pays back its help, the funds would be issued gradually depending on its needs, Lagarde added. “In the case of default on repayment, we will immediately put the foot on the brake”, she said.

French Finance minister Christine Lagarde has claimed that taxing bankers bonuses will raise €360million.

In an interview with Le Figaro yesterday (WEDNESDAY) Ms Lagarde said that the 50 per cent tax on bonuses paid to workers in the financial sector was intended to “send a signal to the banks” that had benefitted from state bail outs at the height of last year’s financial crisis.

The finance minister said that she hoped the industry would see the imposition of the tax as an incentive to deploy their fund elsewhere in ways that would boost the French economy, rather than using earnings to make overly generous awards to workers.

She said she hoped the banks would “use the capital they have to make loans and not pay out extravagant compensation.”

Reacting to criticism of the harsh tax, Ms Lagarde said that without state intervention last year, many banks would not have been able to continue trading and added: “In these conditions it is justified that the French get a share of these results.”

The finance minister confirmed that a large proportion of the funds raised by the extraordinary taxing measure would go into a government fund to help businesses.

The new tax rule is aimed at forcing financial institutions to change their compensation structures to reward employees’ long term performance rather than creating an incentive to enter into risky deals for the sake of short term compensation.