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Tuesday May 22, 11:42 PM Euro exports up but currency worry persists PARIS/BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - Euro zone exports rose in March despite the currency's exchange rate strength, lifting the region's trade surplus as the value of imports dipped, data from the European Union's statistics office showed on Tuesday. That said, Germany's economy ministry said euro appreciation was beginning to erode the price competitiveness of the world's top export nation and one of the men running Airbus parent EADS said more rises in ECB interest rates could make things worse. The comments from EADS chief Louis Gallois were predictable to an extent given the intensity of competition between Europe's Airbus and U.S. arch-rival Boeing. But official expressions of concern in Germany have been rare in recent weeks. "The significant rise of the euro's real effective exchange rate since the beginning of last year by around 2 percentage points has somewhat dampened the price competitiveness of the German economy outside the euro zone," the German economy ministry said in a report. The report was published the same day as estimates by the EU statistics office that the euro zone trade surplus surged to 7.4 billion euros in March, versus 0.6 billion euros a year earlier and a revised 1.3-billion-euro deficit in February 2007. Exports rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in value in March versus February, while imports fell 2.2 percent. The euro has risen almost 2 percent versus the dollar this year, based on Tuesday trading levels, and by more than 4.5 percent in the last 12 months, according to Reuters data. It has risen 4 percent against the yen so far this year and 14 percent in the last 12 months The real effective exchange rate versus a host of currencies, a measure the European Central Bank prefers to monitor, has risen nearly four percent in the past 12 months. MIXED FEELINGS European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said recently the euro's strength against the dollar and yen had had little impact on external trade. But European official still appear to be keeping a watchful eye on the currency for fear that further appreciation may at some stage do damage, despite what is regarded as a sustainable recovery in economic growth. Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs collective deliberations among euro zone finance ministers and services as a point man with the monetary authorities, said last week the euro's exchange rate was already a problem for some companies. "If the race towards an ever-stronger euro were to continue, we would have to ask ourselves whether this evolution remains compatible with the fundamentals of the European economy," he told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview. Volkswagen has regularly complained about the competitive edge Japanese carmakers gain because of a yen which hit another record low versus the euro this week. Washington believes the main problem is China and Europe shares the view that the yuan, the exchange rate of which is still state-controlled, remains artificially low, forcing the rest of Asia to follow suit to remain competitive. Washington has given short shrift to Europe's complaints about the euro-dollar rate however, providing little solace for the likes of Airbus, which recently announced plans for 10,000 layoffs and says the euro is making life harder. (Additional reporting Paul Carrel in Berlin, Tim Hepher and Swaha Pattanaik in Paris and Marcin Grajewski in Brussels)