Speaking to the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee here, Trichet said he detected "a tendency to take the euro as a scapegoat, which is extraordinarily unjust, unfair and false."

The 12-country eurozone had achieved much better results in growth, job creation and inflation in the eight years since the launch of the euro than in the eight preceding years, the Frenchman argued.

A number of French politicians have recently voiced concern about the current strength of the euro and have called for governments to have some say in the ECB's monetary policy decisions.

But Trichet said there was strong public backing for the ECB to remain free from political interference.

Asked about moves by some central banks to put more of their foreign exchange reserves into euros and cut the proportion held in dollars, Trichet reiterated that the ECB took a neutral line on international use of the euro.

He said shifts in reserves had so far taken the form of an "orderly, smooth and slow transformation".

He said more sharp, abrupt moves in reserves would not be in the interest of the eurozone, the US or the global economy.