LONDON (Reuters) - European Central Bank Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Thursday she did not expect France to follow Britain and leave the European Union and that she doubted there would be a stock market crash in the near future.
French election hopeful Marine Le Pen has floated the idea of the country leaving the EU as part of her campaign, but Lautenschlaeger said: "I can not imagine France will move out of the EU."
"The difficulties have been experienced by a country we are sitting in", she said at an event in London. "It is not a role model."
Speaking to reporters after the event organised by the London School of Economics' German Society she added: "You always have contingency planning for everything, but to be very clear I have no contingency plan for France exiting (the EU)because I don't believe France will exit."
She also said she did not expect a sharp tumble in European shares in the near future, although she did acknowledge "uncertainties", such as the upcoming elections in France and Germany.
(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Huw Jones)
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