France's Hollande wins left-wing backing on fiscal pact

France's President Francois Hollande delivers a speech about public schools at the Sorbonne University in Paris October 9, 2012.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande achieved majority backing from his own Socialist bloc in parliament on Tuesday for Europe's fiscal discipline treaty and was spared having to rely on opposition votes.

A total of 282 left-wing votes in favor exceeded the 274 required for a majority, saving Hollande the embarrassment of having to depend on conservative lawmakers to ratify a fiscal pact seen key to pulling the euro zone out of crisis.

A small but noisy revolt within Hollande's Socialist bloc against the treaty saw 20 Socialist Party lawmakers vote against and nine abstain. Of the 17 Greens Party lawmakers in a parliamentary alliance with the Socialists and other left-wing parties, 12 voted against and two abstained.

(Reporting By Emile Picy; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Paul Taylor)