Helsinki, Finland ? The European Union on Friday condemned a French bill making it a crime to deny that the World War I-era killing of Armenians in Turkey was genocide, calling it unhelpful at a critical stage in the Muslim country’s EU entry talks.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said “this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey.”

The bill was approved Thursday by lawmakers in France’s lower house but still needs approval by the French Senate and President Jacques Chirac to become law. Turkey has said the decision would harm relations with France.

Chirac’s government is thought to be unlikely to forward the bill for passage by the Senate.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bill, “instead of opening up the debate, would rather close it down.” He said it came at a bad time as the 25-member bloc was trying to avoid “a train crash” in negotiations with the predominantly Muslim nation.

“This law is counterproductive,” he said.

France, which is home to thousands of people whose families came from Armenia, already has recognized the 1915-19 killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. Under the bill, those who contest it was genocide would risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to $56,000.

Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during World War I, when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the empire.