France has sent a request to the European Commission to implement a surveillance mechanism on imports of Korean cars, French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said Friday.

The French government had announced it would make the request as it presented a plan to regenerate its auto production sector, mainly by creating incentives to buy low emission vehicles.

The request from France is within the framework of the free trade agreement between the European Union and South Korea that came into force July 2011.

In the statement, Mr. Montebourg said that after the agreement there was a strong rise in imports into France of small Korean-made vehicles, notably small diesel cars.

According to the agreement between the EU and South Korea, the European Commission should be notified of any sudden increase in imports in a sensitive sector, the statement said.

"The conditions for an implementation of surveillance have been met," the industry minister said in a statement.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@dowjones.com