BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - France will not quickly set aside its dispute with Australia over the scrapping of a submarine contract and is assessing all options in response, France's European affairs minister Clement Beaune said on Tuesday.
"Our relations are very difficult," Beaune told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU counterparts in Brussels. "We cannot act as if nothing happened. We need to look into all options."
Beaune welcomed support from EU foreign ministers at a meeting late on Monday, stressing that this an EU matter, rather than just a French problem.
