BERLIN (Reuters) - France and Germany have put forward plans for reforming EU competition rules to encourage the emergence of European industrial giants, French finance Miniser Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday.

"It's the first time that France and Germany put forward proposals to transform EU competition rules," Le Maire said after a meeting in Berlin with German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier where they agreed a joint manifesto for a new European industrial policy.

"We have powerful, modern technologies and we don't want them to serve other continents than ours,"

Le Maire also said that France and Germany hoped to get European Commission state aid approval for a new joint battery initiative before April 1.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Michel Rose)

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