PARIS, April 5 (Reuters) – France has urged the European Commission to resolve a row over plans to make airlines using EU airports pay for their carbon emissions – a move that has angered the United States, India and China and stirred threats of a trade war.

The EU must “make all the necessary efforts” to find a solution acceptable to countries outside the region, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso late last month.

In a reply sent last week, Barroso said the European executive was seeking a global deal, which the Commission has repeatedly said would be the one outcome that would justify modifying the EU’s own law.

“We continue to work very closely with all our international partners in pursuit of an international solution through the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization),” Barroso said.

Under EU legislation, which began to take effect on Jan. 1, all airlines flying to and from EU airports will be required to offset their carbon emissions, using the bloc’s complex Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to help tackle climate change.

China has been at the forefront of opposition to the EU’s law and has suspended aircraft orders from Europe’s Airbus worth $14 billion.

Fillon, who faces a looming French election and anxiety about unemployment, said Airbus, airline Air France and engine maker Safran had warned 2,000 jobs were at risk.

NANTERRE, France (Reuters) – Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Thursday she would balance France’s books if elected president by leaving the euro, slashing immigration, taxing imports and tapping the central bank for cheap loans instead of the debt markets.

The National Front leader, who ranks third in opinion polls, spelt out the financial planning behind her campaign promises just over three months before the first round of the presidential contest on April 22.

Exploiting discontent over globalization and the debt crisis in Europe, Le Pen has sought to lure voters by detailing her plan to knock the country’s bloated public deficit to zero by the end of 2017.

She said she would raise 200 billion euros ($260 billion)over five-years, in large part by restoring the autonomy of the French central bank and getting it to lend to the government at cheap rates in order to slash debt costs.

“Unlike the others, I am not trying to seduce, but to convince,” said the 43-year-old lawyer, who replaced her ex-paratrooper father as party head early last year.

“When other candidates are vague on purpose, I am offering concrete proposals in complete transparency,” she told a news conference at the party headquarters.

An Ifop poll on Thursday for weekly magazine Paris Match showed she could score 21.5 percent in the first round of the ballot, two percent behind incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and 5.5 points behind Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande.

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Britain and France clashed over credit ratings on Friday, adding to tensions that erupted over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s veto of a treaty on euro zone fiscal integration.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told French Prime Minister Francois Fillon French criticism of the British economy was unacceptable and called for a cooling of the rhetoric.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said he was “deeply troubled” by exchanges between Britain and France over resolving the euro zone debt crisis.

Differences over the debt crisis affecting both the euro zone and Britain have chilled an initially warm relationship between the eurosceptic Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Relations between the neighbors and age-old rivals grew more tense when Cameron refused to sign up a week ago to a European summit deal on the euro zone’s debt crisis calling for a tougher deficit and debt regime.

The decision left Britain isolated among the 27 EU members.

Earlier on Friday Finance Minister Francois Baroin had joined a chorus of French criticism of the British economy.

LONDON/PARIS, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Britain and France clashed over credit ratings on Friday, adding to tensions that erupted over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s veto of a treaty on euro zone fiscal integration.

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told French Prime Minister Francois Fillon French criticism of the British economy was unacceptable and called for a cooling of the rhetoric.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said he was “deeply troubled” by exchanges between Britain and France over resolving the euro zone debt crisis.

Differences over the debt crisis affecting both the euro zone and Britain have chilled an initially warm relationship between the eurosceptic Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Relations between the neighbours and age-old rivals grew more tense when Cameron refused to sign up a week ago to a European summit deal on the euro zone’s debt crisis calling for a tougher deficit and debt regime.

The decision left Britain isolated among the 27 EU members.

Finance Minister Francois Baroin had earlier joined a chorus of French criticism of the British economy.

PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) – The chairman of euro zone finance ministers added his support to Mario Draghi’s candidacy to head the European Central Bank on Thursday, taking the Italian a step closer to replacing France’s Jean-Claude Trichet.

Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said he shared the view on Draghi’s candidacy of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who on Tuesday backed the Bank of Italy chief to succeed Trichet when his eight-year term expires in October. [ID:nLDE73P17L]

Juncker’s support for Draghi is significant because the Eurogroup chief’s fellow Luxembourger Yves Mersch — like Draghi a member of the ECB’s policy making Governing Council — has been seen as another potential successor to Trichet.

“I don’t see any notable difference between what the president of the Republic (Sarkozy) said and what I think,” Juncker told reporters in Paris, asked about Draghi’s candidacy.

The public endorsements from Sarkozy and Juncker have raised pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the euro zone’s biggest economy, to accept Draghi as Trichet’s successor.

Sarkozy’s backing has triggered other expressions of support for Draghi, who has established a position as the most respected Italian in international economic and political circles, belying Italy’s poor reputation for financial management.

“Spain’s position … (Draghi) seems to us to be an excellent candidate, but the time period for presenting candidates is not open yet,” Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado told reporters on Wednesday.

PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) – The chairman of euro zone finance ministers added his support to Mario Draghi’s candidacy to head the European Central Bank on Thursday, taking the Italian a step closer to replacing France’s Jean-Claude Trichet.

Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said he was of the same mind on Draghi’s candidacy as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who on Tuesday backed the Bank of Italy chief to succeed Trichet when his eight-year term expires in October. [ID:nLDE73P17L]

Juncker’s support for Draghi is significant because the Eurogroup chief’s fellow Luxembourger Yves Mersch — who, like Draghi, is a member of the ECB’s policy making Governing Council – has been seen as another potential successor to Trichet.

“I don’t see any notable difference between what the president of the Republic (Sarkozy) said and what I think,” Juncker told reporters in Paris when asked about Draghi’s candidacy.

The public endorsements from Sarkozy and Juncker have raised pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the euro zone’s biggest economy, to accept Draghi as Trichet’s successor.

Sarkozy’s backing has triggered other expressions of support for Draghi, who has established a position as the most respected Italian in international economic and political circles, belying Italy’s poor reputation for financial management.

“Spain’s position … (Draghi) seems to us to be an excellent candidate, but the time period for presenting candidates is not open yet,” Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado told reporters on Wednesday.

PARIS, April 5 (Reuters) – France has cancelled a planned increase in gas prices and cut the size of electricity price hikes to appease public discontent with rising energy costs.

In the run-up to elections next year, President Nicolas Sarkozy will hope that turning down state-run utility EDF’s (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) request for bigger electricity price rises will deflect criticism that he is not protecting consumers’ purchasing power.

It might, however, hobble EDF’s ability to update its rapidly ageing fleet of nuclear power plants, another hot political issue in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan following last month’s earthquake and tsunami. [ID:nLDE6901BI]

The government’s tough line on prices was also bad news for France’s main gas supplier GDF Suez (GSZ.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which had been hoping for a further increase in July after a 5 percent rise in household gas prices came into force earlier this month.

EDF shares were down 3 percent at 1200 GMT, while GDF’s were down 3.1 percent.

According to the government’s plan, electricity prices can rise by 1.7 percent in July and by 1.2 percent in the summer 2012, it said on Tuesday.

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