EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described the action of the USA, Australia and Great Britain against France in the dispute over a failed submarine deal as "unacceptable".
"There are many unanswered questions that have to be answered," said von der Leyen in an interview with the US broadcaster CNN, from which excerpts were published on Monday on the online service Twitter.
France had reacted indignantly over Canberra's withdrawal from a multi-billion dollar submarine deal last week.
"We want to know what happened and why," emphasized the EU Commission President.
The full interview should be published on Monday evening.
The reason for the unusually fierce dispute among allies is the establishment of a new security alliance for the Indo-Pacific between the USA, Great Britain and Australia.
This prompted the Australian government to abandon the long-term submarine deal with France and to purchase US nuclear submarines instead.
Paris then called its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington back for deliberations.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian complained about a “serious breach of trust”.
France's Secretary of State for Europe, Clément Beaune, hinted that the affair could jeopardize trade talks between Australia and the EU.
In order to soothe France's anger over the broken deal, the allies recently adopted conciliatory tones.
US President Joe Biden has asked his colleague Emmanuel Macron for an interview, said a French government spokesman.
There will be a phone call in the coming days.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of his country's "inextinguishable love" for France, and Australia's Vice Prime Minister Warnaby Joyce recalled the Australian soldiers who fought on France's side in both world wars.