France is to call on European Union to intervene into Hewlett Packard (HP)'s plan to cut 6,000 jobs in Europe, including 1,240 in France, local media reported on Tuesday.

"Given the importance of the plan throughout Europe, President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday asked the (French) government to appeal to the European Commission," Chirac's spokesman quoted him as saying at a meeting of government ministers on employment.

Chirac was said to tell his ministers to find an appropiate response to HP's plan and has demanded that the group must show " full respect" for labor laws in France.

HP said on September 12 it would cut 1,240 jobs of the 4,800 workforce in France by 2008 but would try to do it through voluntary layoff to avoid the costs of direct redundancies.

California-based HP employs 45,000 people in Europe, half of them in Germany, Britain and France.

Source: Xinhua