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French former finance minister Moscovici appointed at EU commission

Former Socialist finance minister Pierre Moscovici says he will follow EU  rules in his new job as EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs.

French former finance minister Pierre Moscovici, file August 2014.
French former finance minister Pierre Moscovici, file August 2014. Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis
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France on Wednesday won the important position in the new European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker who hopes to revive a stagnant European economy.

Socialist Moscovici will do one of the most coveted jobs in the EU for the next five years.

Wednesday's announcement came after months of disagreement over direction between Germany which favours austerity and the likes of Paris and Rome who want to ease EU rules on public spending to boost economic growth.

But Moscovici's appointment came on the day that France said it would miss its deficit target by two years and as Germany expresses reservations about France's ability to meet Brussels budget rules.

"The rules, that's my job" said Moscovici to reporters in Brussels, "there will be no suspension, no exemption, no exception for any country".

"I won't be the French Ambassador in Brussels" he emphasized to the economic daily Les Echos.

Britain - despite a surge of eurosepticism at home- has also won a key position with the financial services post being given to Jonathan Hill.

"I am convinced it will be a winning team", said former Luxembourg prime minister Junker, who's replacing Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso.

"The commission has the expertise to tackle the economic and geostrategic challenges Europe is facing" said Junker.

In the new European Commission, there is a new squad of so-called "super commissionners": Finland's Jyrki Katainen who will oversee jobs and growth and Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis in charge of the euro.

The 28-member team must be approved by the European parliament before starting work in November. 

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