French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday stressed the need to bolster growth to revive the European sluggish economies without fuelling further spending.

Addressing members of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Hollande stressed that improving growth and controlling deficit "should go hand in hand" to meet financial targets.

"We need growth ... it must be our concern, our commitment. The growth will not emerge from additional public spending at a time when states are experiencing high debt," he said.

"Great will be the disciplines, heavy will be the sanctions. If there is no growth there will be no targets that can be achieved in terms of reduction of public finances. And if we do not put order at a number of abuses, there will be no return to growth," Hollande added.

Denouncing austerity policies promoted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande wants to change the terms of the debate in Europe with further focus on growth and job creation in the single-currency bloc by implementing euro bonds project and increasing lending capacity of the European Investment Bank.

"We need more private and public investment to mobilize savings that today are misguided and to protect our financial system," Hollande noted.

The French head of state will fly to Italy on Thursday to meet Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to discuss the recent developments of the eurozone debt crisis before joining German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at a G20 summit in Mexico on June 18-19.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2012)