04/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, French President Jacques Chirac called on the European Union to exercise its “economic sovereignty” and to avail itself of an “offensive trade policy on equal terms with the other powers” in order to face up to increased global competition. “The European Union can no longer be the only continental group that does not use any of the economic, industrial, commercial or monetary policy instruments”, he said as he delivered his traditional new year's greetings. “It is time for it to exercise its economic sovereignty, by establishing a policy of change and by recasting competition policy in order to take globalisation into account”, he stressed, addressing trade unions, associations and employers' confederations. Mr Chirac went on to say that Europe should “take its economic destiny in hand, by giving a real meaning back to the Community preference on which it has been built”. (hb)