Despite skepticism and indifference from its EU partners, French President Nicolas Sarkozy continues to question the reigning power of the European Central Bank (ECB), proposing to set up a "European economic government" to seek a brake on the euro's rising value.
In a Wednesday statement to French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, Sarkozy asked Lagarde to start negotiations with eurozone members to establish a "European economic government" which will draw together euro-zone finance ministers on the bloc's fiscal policies, especially the exchange-rate policy.
With the euro reaching a record high above 1.34 U.S. dollars, France's industry leaders are increasingly worried about the strong euro's negative impact on the country's exports.
As for Sarkozy, the indifferent ECB had boiled down to a record-breaking euro, blaming the central bank for only focusing on curbing inflation but ignoring the strong currency's negative influence.
During his Monday meeting with EU finance ministers, the president openly said he felt a dislike of the strong euro.
According to statistics from French Economy Ministry, France's trade deficit was 3 billion euros (about 4 billion dollars) in May and the number in last 12 months reached 27.6 billion euros (about 35.8 dollars).
Analysts said a strong euro would impair France's exports because its labour cost is relatively high and its export products, which are mainly consumer goods, are easy to be influenced by prices.
However, France's criticism of the ECB and Sarkozy's proposal to set up a "European economic government" met with indifference even skepticism from its eurozone partners. Some European media described France as a "lonely knight" in its anti-ECB crusade.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruceck said in an interview published Thursday that Germany did not have a major problem with the euro's current level.
According to a French economist, Germany benefits from a strong euro because Germany's labour cost is lower than France and its main export products are industrial equipment that has a potential market in emerging developing countries.
Late Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed Sarkozy's call to curb the euro's rising value, saying: "I do not agree. I really do not want to go down that road and neither does the German government." She also stressed the need to maintain the independence of the ECB.
Luxemburg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that the current level of the euro poses no threat to the economic development of the euro zone.
"If we hope to win the battle of competitiveness, we cannot have an artificial devaluation of our currency at the same time," said Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, whose country is holding the rotating EU presidency.
Source: Xinhua
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