France's ex-PM Valls wants 'smart' euro zone rules, no Turkey EU membership

Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday he would keep France's public deficit below 3 percent of economic output but would not seek to reduce it to zero as he unveiled his election platform ahead of the French left's primaries later this month. Valls, who said he wanted a "smart application" of the single currency bloc's stability pact rules, also said he was against Turkey joining the European Union. Valls is ahead in opinion polls for the late January leftwing primaries.