French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde welcomed on Friday recent comments from German officials expressing concern over the strength of the euro.
"I'm enormously pleased that my German colleague, who said three months ago 'I love a strong euro' is at last beginning to understand that even for these German companies - the queens of export - it's beginning to get very expensive," Lagarde said in an interview with LCI television.
"And I'm very pleased that at last he's coming back to the French line, which we have expressed very strongly on all international occasions, to say 'Watch out. It's too much'." The comments came after the euro touched a record high against the dollar above $1.4960.
French officials, including President Nicolas Sarkozy, have complained for months about the strength of the single currency, calling for more active exchange rate measures by European policy makers to contain the euro's rise to protect exporters.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has struck a very different tone, insisting that the ever-mounting strength of the euro did not pose a serious threat.
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