(Adds Treasury official comments after meeting; background on euro value)

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Friday urged U.S. officials to help calm a "clearly overvalued" euro and foreign exchange volatility that is threatening European and global growth.

"We believe that the euro, globally speaking, is overvalued. We have been saying it, the IMF has been saying the same thing," Fillon told a news conference in Washington ahead of meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

"The euro area, according to us, cannot bear the entire weight of the adjustment for all currencies," Fillon said through an interpreter.

He said he intended ask Paulson to back up his advocacy for a strong dollar, but stopped short of calling for direct intervention in currency markets.

"The U.S. authorities are repeating ad nauseam that the dollar is too weak and that the U.S. economy deserves a stronger dollar," Fillon said. "We need to find together a way to make sure that this happens in fact."

A Treasury Department official confirmed that currencies were discussed during an afternoon meeting between Paulson and Fillon, but declined to provide further details. The meeting also was attended by French Economy, Industry and Employment Minister Christine Lagarde, and Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.

Paulson has long said that a strong dollar is in the United States' interests and that he believes solid longer term prospects for the U.S. economy would ultimately be reflected in the dollar's value.