'Everyone agrees that the strength of the euro is prejudicial to a certain number of industries,' French European Afairs Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet told journalists.

But he added: 'You cannot act if there is insufficient willingness to cooperate on the part of the United States.'

'The last G7 showed there was insufficient willingness to cooperate to eliminate the existing imbalances' on exchange markets.

'For the markets to follow you there has to be a homogeneous message from monetary powers,' Mr Jouyet argued.

European representatives at the G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers found no support from the United States in a final statement on exchange rates.

The statement called on China to allow faster appreciation of its currency, the yuan, to try to ease global economic imbalances.

But the ministers merely reiterated their well-worn remarks that foreign exchange rates should reflect fundamentals and that excess volatility is undesirable, making no mention of the weakness of the dollar despite European concerns.

The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. -- AFP