Brussels - At Friday's European Union summit on the reform of global financial markets, the French government, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, proposed five guidelines for future action which it wants EU states to back at a global summit on November 15.

TOTAL REGULATION: "No financial institution and no market segment must escape regulation or supervision," the paper says.

Brussels - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday urged his European Union colleagues to agree on how to reform global finance amid strong resistance from Sweden and scepticism among several other member states.

"We have no choice other than to reach an agreement," Sarkozy said at the start of Friday's extraordinary EU summit. "For Europe to count, we must be united."

Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU until the end of the year, is hoping that a unified European position will put the 27-member bloc in the driving seat when Group of 20 leaders meet in Washington next week to discuss ways of avoiding a repeat of the current market turmoil.

Paris - French shares shrugged off a substantial interest rate cut by the European Central Bank and ended Thursday's session with a big loss.

The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 index closed off by 6.38 per cent, at 3,387.25, as all 40 listed stocks lost ground.

The sell-off was led by steel giant ArcelorMittal, which lost nearly 20 per cent, to 16.75 euros, on fears that the recession will be deeper and more stubborn than expected.

Paris - French transport equipment manufacturer Alstom said Thursday it had registered record orders and a healthy profits rise in the first half of its current business year.

Paris - A 24-hour strike by train conductors protesting new working hours severely disrupted French train service throughout the country on Thursday.

The French national rail service SNCF said only about half of all scheduled regional trains were running, while an average of two of three high-speed TGV trains were operating.

Suburban rail service in and out of Paris was also affected by the job action, with about one of two scheduled trains running on average.

Paris - An overwhelming majority of the French people think that the election of Barack Obama is good for the image of the United States, according to a poll made public on Thursday.

In the survey, conducted by the OpinionWay institute for the daily Le Figaro, 85 per cent of respondents said that Obama's election as US president was either very good or good for the country's image.

That sentiment was the same across the entire French political spectrum, with even a majority of supporters of the anti-immigrant right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen agreeing with it.