"Some say they belong to the left, but in fact they are culturally extremely reactionary," Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission said in an interview with the International Herald Tribune published on Monday.
That prompted Jean-Christophe Cambedelis, a national secretary of France's ruling party, to describe his remarks as "intolerable", saying he should "retract his comments or quit".
A Commission spokesman said "there is no basic disagreement between the Commission and the French government on this question."
He also denied that Mr Barroso's criticism targeted France's Socialist government.
Mr Barroso's unusually outspoken words followed a marathon round of difficult European Union talks on Friday after France held up agreement between the bloc's 27 trade ministers on the exact terms of the Commission's mandate to negotiate a EU-US trade deal.
After 13 hours, a compromise was finally reached agreeing to the French demand but which also stated that the Commission could come back on the question if necessary.
Note EU-Digest: maybe the trade deal negotiations between the EU and the US should be put on hold until their is more clarity as to the damage done to European Citizens Privacy Rights as a result of the PRISM issue .
Read more: France hits back at 'reactionary' claims - Telegraph
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