French President Nicholas Sarkozy says the downgrading of his country's credit rating will not change his policies.

Standard and Poor's stripped France of its triple A status on Friday. But two other agencies, Fitch's and Moody's, have left the country's rating unchanged.

Sarkozy comments come after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who pledged support for Sarkozy's planned financial transaction tax to raise billions for the collective European purse.

Rajoy also said he would throw Spain's weight behind a new EU pact to oversee national budgets.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from Madrid.