Just three weeks ago, Paris appeared to be virtually off the hook when the European Commission passed up the opportunity to demand immediate changes in its 2015 budget after France, like Italy, made some tweaks to an initial draft.
Several EU officials have made clear to Reuters that fining the French - in theory as much as $5 billion (3.19 billion pounds) - remains a serious option, punishing Paris now for failing to meet previously set targets.
Discussions continue on ways to avoid a move that might fuel growing anti-EU sentiment in France - a trend that Germany, the bloc's dominant economy, is keen to counter while nonetheless defending EU rules.
Yet officials at the European Union executive in Brussels are wrestling with legal texts that limit their scope to overlook France's persistent failure to meet targets - as well as with protests from smaller states that have suffered under EU bailout terms and who say the rules will lose credibility if Paris is able to flout them.
"If the disciplinary procedure has to be stepped up because of no effective action on the part of France, it would mean a fine, according to the rules," said one senior EU official with direct knowledge of the state of discussions.
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