PARIS, May 31 (Reuter) - The European Union peace mediator for former Yugoslavia, Britain's Lord Owen, has told France he intends to resign by the end of June, French Prime Minister Alain Juppe told parliament on Wednesday.

Earlier in Paris, French Prime Minister Alain Juppe announced Owen's plans to step down by the end of June.

Smart said "it would have been more appropriate" for the French to make the announcement at a different time but that Owen had long planned to step down while France chaired the EU.

Word of Owen's resignation came as British Prime Minister John Major addressed a special session of parliament on the latest crisis, in which Bosnian Serbs have seized more than 350 United Nations personnel as hostages against further NATO air strikes.