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LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union's relationship with the United States is not living up to its potential, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in an interview published on Thursday.

Barroso, the head of the EU executive, told the Times newspaper the new era at the White House under President Barack Obama was in danger of becoming a missed opportunity.

"The transatlantic relationship is not living up to its potential. I think we should do much more together. We have conditions like we have never had before and it would be a pity if we missed the opportunity," he said.

The Times said the criticism followed a series of fundamental disagreements on how to deal with the economic crisis, climate change and trade reform. Its online version of the interview made clear Barroso had not made these references or used these words himself. (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/)

Barroso said the single currency had acted like a sleeping pill, lulling some countries into a false sense of economic confidence and the illusion of prosperity, allowing governments to avoid painful economic reforms.

However, since the financial crisis, the single currency had also forced euro zone members to get their economies back into shape through tough austerity measures, he said.

"The euro is, in fact, being an extremely powerful driver for what Europe needs - and what Europe needs most of all is not to live above its means and, secondly, to make the structural reforms to become more competitive in the global economies," he said.

Barroso said the EU must cooperate more closely on economic policies but said this would not lead to a further centralization of powers for Brussels.

"We need to do more for an economic union in Europe," he said. "...This means to act together when it makes sense. It makes sense for even the biggest states in the EU, because when we come to discuss these matters with the U.S. or the Chinese, I think everyone agrees we have much more leverage if we do it together."

(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton and Timothy Heritage)