French officials Thursday took a new approach to defending the country's triple-A rating as they await the outcome of a review by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services: say the U.K. is in a worse position.
"A downgrade doesn't seem justified to me when you look at the economic fundamentals," Bank of France governor Christian Noyer said in an interview with regional French paper Le Telegramme.
"Or else a downgrade should come first for the U.K., which has a greater deficit, as much debt, more inflation, and less growth than us, and collapsing credit."
On an official visit to Brazil, the French Prime Minister François Fillon followed up on Mr. Noyer's argument.
Europe faces "a challenge with relation to the European currency first and foremost because we're very indebted," said Mr. Fillon.
"But we're not the only ones. Our British friends have a higher deficit and more debt, and I would say that the ratings agencies have not yet noted that."
France's government has been fine-tuning its communications strategy in recent days as the country is seen at a greater risk of a downgrade than other triple-A euro zone states who were also put on negative credit watch last week by S&P.
Amongst the euro-zone's top rated countries, France has by far the highest deficit, higher public debt levels, and is the only one to be threatened by S&P with a two-notch downgrade.
The U.K.'s finances certainly do not compare favorably to France's on paper. France is expected to have a public deficit at 5.8% of gross domestic product this year, while the U.K.'s will stand at 9.4%, according to European Commission forecasts.
France and the U.K. already crossed swords at the European Union summit last week when U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron refused to sign up to treaty change. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Mr. Cameron made unacceptable demands during the meeting, while the British premier said he was "modest and reasonable."
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, French finance minister François Baroin said the U.K. had isolated itself from Europe, and Mr. Sarkozy earlier this week said there are now two Europes.
A spokesman for Mr. Cameron pointed Thursday to the U.K.'s commitment to cutting its deficit.
"Credit ratings are a matter for credit ratings agencies," he said. "But we have put in place a credible deficit reduction plan and the credibility of that plan can be seen in bond yields for the U.K."
"Clearly there is a lot of discussion about what's going on in the European economy at the present time, lots of people talking about the economic situation in different countries," the spokesman said.
He added that France and the U.K. work very closely "on a whole range of issues."
The criticism of U.K. finances from France is another angle officials are using to downplay and discredit a possible downgrade.
Mr. Sarkozy began the week by shrugging off the possibility of a downgrade. In a newspaper interview, the French President said that if France lost its triple-A rating, it would be "an added difficulty, but not insurmountable."
Foreign minister Alain Juppé echoed that cooler approach Wednesday. "It wouldn't be good news, of course, but it would not be a cataclysm either," he said.
Previously, Mr. Sarkozy had made defending France's top rating a cornerstone of his presidency.
But with less than five months to go to elections, remaining in the top league looks more and more difficult. As well as S&P's warning, Moody's Investors Service said in October that it will monitor the stable outlook it has on France's triple-A, while Fitch Ratings said in November that France's rating would be at risk if the euro-zone debt crisis intensifies.
"Frankly, ratings agencies have become incomprehensible and irrational," Mr. Noyer said in his interview.
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