France Sees Little Room for Euro Bond Without Integration

France, the second-biggest of the euro area’s six AAA-rated countries, sees little room for a common euro bond without closer integration of Europe’s fiscal and budgetary regimes, a French official said.

France’s stance on the subject hasn’t changed since President Nicolas Sarkozy set it out in Brussels on Dec. 17, the person said, declining to be named in line with government policy. Asked then about the possibility of issuing common bonds to stop the debt crisis engulfing Greece and Ireland, Sarkozy said that under the current state of European integration, “it wouldn’t make sense.”