Pressure is building on president-elect Francois Hollande to stand by France's austerity vows, with Germany's Angela Merkel saying Europe is counting on them to resolve the bloc's debt crisis. Hollande's first foreign trip as president will be to Berlin next week.
Merkel, in a letter to him that was released by her office, noted that he was assuming power in the European Union's second-largest economy "at a time full of challenges".
"It is up to us to take the necessary decisions for the European Union and the eurozone, to prepare our societies for the future and protect and advance prosperity in a sustainable way," she wrote.
But she also made clear she had no plans to renegotiate the fiscal pact setting tough budgetary rules for EU states that she spearheaded, despite Hollande's call to rework it to do more to foster growth.
On Tuesday, Japan joined those raising concerns about his plans, as Finance Minister Jun Azumi warned Hollande to keep France's fiscal discipline in place.
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"We want (France) to do what has been decided so far," Azumi told a regular news conference, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
"I don't know whether Mr Hollande will immediately act on what he has said in heated debates during the election campaign," he said. "But realistically, I think it is impossible (for European nations) to give up on fiscal-rebuilding efforts."
And a German member of the European Central Bank's board also warned France to honour its fiscal commitments.
"I expect France to implement the fiscal pact unchanged," Joerg Asmussen told the German daily Handelsblatt in an interview published on Wednesday. "In addition, I expect the new government to respect the promise to reduce the public deficit next year below the three per cent (of GDP) mark."
Hollande promised cheering supporters on Sunday that he would reopen talks to ensure the EU fiscal pact focused on growth rather than simply imposing deficit-cutting austerity rules.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy announced on Tuesday that the bloc's leaders would meet on May 23 for an informal dinner ahead of an EU summit on June 28 and 29 that is expected to focus on growth.
Hollande's transition chief Pierre Moscovici said the Socialist would not give up on his plan for "a European project that is more favourable to growth" and that France's partners would budge.
"We will find a compromise. And I am convinced that things are starting well," Moscovici told RTL radio.
The uncertainty generated by Hollande's election and the political turmoil in Greece, where election gains by hard-left and extreme-right parties stripped the ruling coalition of its majority, have riled international markets.
Hollande attended his first official function on Tuesday at a World War II commemoration ceremony.
He joined ousted president Nicolas Sarkozy in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, as France marked the 67th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The ceremony was a sign of French unity, he said.
"There are issues that unite us all, beyond the person of Nicolas Sarkozy or of me," he said. Hollande formally takes office on May 15 and shortly thereafter travels to Germany for his meeting with Merkel.
He will then travel to the United States for the G8 summit on May 18 and 19 and a NATO gathering on May 20 and 21.
