The European Union has criticized a French request for surveillance measures on Korean car imports to the country.

In a statement Wednesday, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said Brussels was looking over the request but that the argument that the Korea-EU free trade pact had given imports to the Gallic nation an unfair boost was not true.

He said Korean auto imports have not increased by a large margin, as France claims, and pointed to the fact that the majority of Korean cars were produced in EU countries.

France needs to get the surveillance measures approved before it can ask for a bilateral safeguard measure which could re-introduce duties on imported Korean automobiles.