New York, Jan 14 (IANS) Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced Friday to cut the 3A-rating of France and ratings of several other European countries including Spain and Italy, saying the agreement reached by European leaders in December was not enough to address the region’s debt problems.

According to S&P;’s statement, France, along with Austria, was downgraded by one notch from its gold-plated 3A to AA+ while both Spain and Italy were cut by two notches to A and BBB+ respectively, reported Xinhua.

At the same time, the rating agency also decided to lower the long-term ratings on Cyprus and Portugal by two notches, the long-term ratings on Malta, Slovakia and
Slovenia by one notch.

“Today’s rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone,” S&P; said.

“The political agreement does not supply sufficient additional resources or operational flexibility to bolster European rescue operations, or extend enough support for those eurozone sovereigns subjected to heightened market pressures,” the rating agency added.

S&P; affirmed the long-term ratings on Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, saying these nations are likely to be more resilient in light of their relatively strong external positions and less leveraged public and private sectors.

The outlooks on the long-term ratings on Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain are negative, indicating there is at least a one-in-three chance that their ratings will be lowered in 2012 or 2013.

According to S&P;, the main downside risks that could affect eurozone nations were related to the possibility of further significant fiscal deterioration, while the agency believed the monetary authorities’ response to the eurozone’s financial problems was broadly adequate.