The European Commission on Monday rejected a request by France to monitor imports of Korean-made cars to Europe. EU spokesman John Clancy said France's request to introduce "prior surveillance" of Korean cars was rejected because it did not meet the legal conditions for taking action.

"Even if imports into the EU of cars from Korea indeed increased over the last months, there was no indication that such an increase was concentrated in France," Clancy said.

The French government claimed Korean automakers are selling cars at extremely low prices to boost their market share in Europe, hurting carmakers in the region.

If the EU had introduced prior surveillance, importers would have had to submit detailed documents to the EU and member countries to get approval for imports.

European sales of Hyundai and Kia cars from January to September this year rose 14 percent over the same period of 2011.