France proposed joint EU action on Wednesday to blunt the economic impact of soaring oil prices after the bloc's executive arm said its 2005 growth forecast would be revised down because of high energy costs. French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose government is under pressure to compensate truckers, fishermen, farmers and consumers for soaring fuel costs and taxes, presented his plan as euro zone finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg. In a letter to his Dutch counterpart Gerrit Zalm, who chairs the 12-nation euro zone group of finance ministers, Sarkozy called for joint action to save energy, combat oil speculation and aid sectors of the economy most-exposed to oil price rises. "Oil prices have reached new highs in recent weeks," he said in the letter. "This is obviously a very worrisome development." "It seems necessary to improve market transparancy to limit uncontrolled speculation ... it would further be advisable as soon as possible to publish figures on European oil stocks."
