LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond

yields fell slightly on Wednesday, while the risk premium that

investors demand to hold French bonds held steady as investors

watched political developments in France.

The gap between France's and Germany's 10-year yields

stood at 73 basis points (bps), up less than 1 bp

from the day before but down from the more than 80 bps reached

last week.

The spread has widened from below 50 bps since French

President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election this month in

response to a strong showing for far-right parties in the

European Parliament election.

With Marine Le Pen's National Rally leading in the polls but

looking set to fall short of an outright majority, the risk of a

hung parliament has investors worried about France's debt path

and fiscal situation.

France, along with Italy, is expected to be named as one of

the countries in the European Union's Excessive Deficit

Procedure later on Wednesday, requiring it to reduce its

structural deficit.

Germany's 10-year bond yield, the euro zone's

benchmark, stood at 2.375%, down 1.5 bps on the day.

France's 10-year bond yield was down less than 1

bp to 3.117%, having spiked as high as 3.338% last week.

Italy's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the

euro zone's more indebted countries, was steady at 3.885%.