“From a competitive and fiscal point of view we have to reconverge,” he told the FT. “Without any change the eurozone cannot survive.”

His calls for further eurozone integration come at a time when most member states have become reluctant to move more powers to Brussels, fearing a political backlash, and EU institutions have shied away from pushing for more centralisation.

Last June the so-called five presidents — the heads of the European Commission, European Council, eurogroup, European parliament and European Central Bank — produced a report on the way forward for the currency union. The report recommended the creation of a euro area treasury, but urged this and other ambitious steps not be taken until at least 2017. Mr Macron expressed scepticism about the report leading to any concrete action.

“We welcome the report, which means ‘good luck, see you later’,” he said.

Mr Macron said that the current structure, which sees heads of government taking decisions often at long, last-minute summits was not sufficient to guarantee the long-term survival of the currency union.

“If we don’t move forward, we decide for dismantling the eurozone,” he said at an event in London.

Mr Macron called for countries to set up a structure of permanent fiscal transfers to reduce the divergence caused by policies such as the ECB’s single interest rate. He argued that a system of transfers was necessary to support countries in trouble to reform and to combat the rise of populism across Europe.

“[Without transfers] you are just fuelling the demagogues,” Mr Macron said. “Without transfers you will not allow the periphery to converge and will create political divergence towards extremists.”

The French minister said he would like member states to set up a common eurozone treasury with a single finance minister. Member states would contribute part of their VAT tax receipts and unemployment insurance to fund transfers, with a eurozone parliament acting as a political check.

The proposal would be fiercely resisted in countries such as Germany, which has long been suspicious of measures that involve pooling member states’ tax receipts. However, the French minister said it was necessary for the eurozone to be competitive in a globalised world.

“You cannot say I am for a strong Europe and globalisation but over my dead body for a transfer union . . . or reforming my country.”

On Thursday, Mr Macron spoke at a series of events in London to promote France as a foreign investment destination. He defended the French government’s record on reform, but acknowledged the need for further change to remove barriers to foreign companies. He plans to introduce new legislation early in 2016 to liberalise the labour market and said his reform initiatives were welcomed by the public.

“People are fully aware of the necessity of reform,” he said. “They are not on the streets protesting. But part of the elite is not ready to reform.”