The EU's new economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the bloc should consider loosening its strict budget deficit rules to respond to climate risks and weak growth, echoing a similar call by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The rules, which aim to enforce budgetary discipline among European Union members, were born out of the financial crisis and needed to be updated, Gentiloni told the Monday edition of the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"We have different challenges now: the fight against climate change and the danger of having low growth and low inflation for an extended period," he said in comments translated into German.

The EU's so-called Growth and Stability pact limits budget deficits to three percent of gross domestic product and overall debt to 60 percent of GDP in member states.

Some countries have achieved compliance through either years of austerity or economic good fortune, while others lag behind with massive debt mountains.

Critics have long argued that countries need more flexibility to be able to spend where needed to boost growth and fight downturns.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019