Two captains of French industry called on euro-zone policy makers to act more forcefully to lower the euro's exchange rate to make European firms more competitive and counter what they said was unfair currency manipulation by other world powers, reports Reuters.
The calls come a day after French President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the euro was still overvalued and that the European Central Bank needed to do more to tackle excessively low inflation.
"I think nobody wants a euro that is manipulated, but we can't be satisfied with a situation where the euro would be the only currency on which politicians can't talk about," Louis Gallois, the head of the supervisory board of French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen told a conference.
"The euro is falling at the moment, but at about 1.32 euros per dollar, it is rather significantly above purchasing power parity, it creates a handicap for growth," Gallois added at the annual gathering of French business lobby Medef.
The euro was last trading at $1.3174 on Thursday, a more than one-year low. Selling of the euro, which traded at nearly $1.40 in May, has been driven over the last week by stepped-up speculation that European policymakers will quicken monetary loosening as a way to boost economic growth.
"The European Central Bank, which has made major steps at the instigation of [ECB President Mario] Draghi, must make public statements ... and promote this debate about the euro question at the G20," Gallois said.
The CEO of Franco-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM Alexandre de Juniac joined Gallois in demanding a more "offensive" approach to the euro-zone's exchange rate policy.
"The exchange rate has become a taboo, one must not talk about it, one must not use it, even though all other countries do it, that's really extraordinary," de Juniac said.
"The euro is a tool of global calibre ... Let's use our exchange rate policy," he added.
Read more of this report from Reuters.