PARIS (Reuters) - France's Nicolas Sarkozy, campaigning for a looming re-election battle, said on Tuesday that giving the European Central Bank a role in supporting economic growth in the euro zone, as he is calling for, would not require treaty modifications.
Sarkozy, who has been rebuffed by Berlin for declaring at a weekend campaign rally that he wants a debate on giving the ECB a role in propping up growth, said it was time it moved into line with other central banks around the world.
The French president said there was no question of undermining the ECB's independence but there should be talks on whether it could use exchange rate policy to benefit euro zone exports and growth.
"It is not possible that the ECB does not participate in supporting growth, like all the central banks in the world," Sarkozy told France Inter radio, adding that having it actively encourage growth would not require a treaty change.
"It is wrong to say that just because the ECB is independent, we do not have the right to talk."
(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and Catherine Bremer; Editing by Christian Plumb)
