The Bank of France governor said today that euro zone GDP remains stagnant and that growth in the third quarter is "neither accelerating nor decelerating".
Speaking at a conference this morning, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet said: "That [stagnation] has prompted us to remain cautious, especially over consumer confidence, the essential growth driver.
"From this point of view the indicators are very mixed," Mr Trichet said, adding that confidence needs to be reinforced through stable prices.
With regard to France, he said: "It is incontestable that price increases measured by Insee [the statistics office] remain reasonably stable".