BERLIN (AP) — French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday hailed the European Union’s decision to grant his country more time to tackle its deficit as a turning point in the region’s approach to austerity, which is choking off growth through spending cuts and tax hikes.

Cutting budget deficits remains important but the 27-nation bloc must now move toward a more growth-friendly “doctrine of positive deficit reduction,” Moscovici said, speaking at a Berlin university alongside his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble.