MEPs grilled incoming European Union economy chief Pierre Moscovici today, fearing that he was too soft to swing the austerity axe across the continent.

Right-wing MEPs used a three-hour confirmation hearing to quiz the former French finance minister over his failures to make France’s budget comply with Brussels’s austerity agenda.

“Moscovici is hardly credible,” said German MEP Burkhard Balz.

“He did not convince his own government to ensure compliance.”

Mr Moscovici began two years in charge of France’s finances in May 2012.

He repeatedly missed deadlines to keep borrowing beneath the EU’s dogmatic limit of 3 per cent of gross domestic product.

French President Francois Hollande looked set for a collision with the commission on Wednesday, proudly proclaimed his country “rejects austerity” in a budget that slashed a further €50 billion (£40bn) from spending over the next three years.

“France must abide by the rules as all others,” Mr Moscovici told MEPs