EU debt rules for member states are “obsolete” and should be rethought to reflect the costs of pandemic, war and rising inflation, France’s finance minister has warned.

Bruno Le Maire said a “new economic model” was emerging in Europe as public spending ballooned and said any contrast between “frugal” northern EU member states, led by Germany, and profligate southern countries was no longer relevant.

“Is there a single state in Europe, in the eurozone, that has left its citizens on their own to face inflation? Not one,” Le Maire said in an interview. “This concept of ‘frugal states’ has been dead for a long time. The Netherlands are not particularly frugal. Germany is not particularly frugal. They spend as much as we do to protect their citizens from inflation.”