Main focus of Monday, March 6, 2006

Europe under pressure of economic patriotism

The European energy sector is currently seeing a wave of cross-border merger bids. Concerned with preserving their energy independence, certain states have sought to defend their national industry. To this end, France organised the merger of GDF and Suez as a way of countering a takeover bid by Italy's Enel. A policy which, some analysts believe, is at odds with the philosophy of the European project.

Financial Times - United Kingdom

"Today, France seems to be hiding behind patriotic logic to implement, in spite of past commitments, a privatisation of a major public service company. In other words, sacrifices can be made in the name of France, but no longer in the name of Europe," writes Dominique Moïsi, a senior adviser at France's Institute for International Relations. "Could the European ideal be confronted with the same fate as communist ideology in the Soviet Union, moving from faith to dogma and from dogma to irrelevance? The casualty of France's move is above all Europe. The French merger [between Gaz de France and Suez] makes sense economically, but so did Enel's. Small step by small step, European governments from Paris to Warsaw seem to be engaged in a process that could only be described as the 'undoing' of Europe." (06/03/2006)

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Jyllands-Posten - Denmark

The original plan was to reform Europe to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour within a large common market that transcended invisible national borders, the newspaper writes in a general review of the current state of the EU. "What we have now, however, is a European Union based on an incomplete bureaucratic structure in which the circulation of goods, services, capital and labour is kept at the moderate level which strong nationalist and protectionist forces are willing to permit. This national-political violation of the vision of a united Europe is the main reason for the difficulties our part of the world has had in keeping up with global developments over the past few years, while Asia and the US are forging ahead. As long as Europe's national governments continue to attach more importance to egoistic national interests than the vision of a common market, nobody should be surprised by the Europeans' lack of enthusiasm for the EU." (06/03/2006)

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Le Monde - France

"The notion of a Europe reduced to 'a giant market', once regarded as having won the day, is now giving way to a nationalistic and protectionistic slugging match among the twenty-five," notes journalist Eric le Boucher. "The Europe of services is dead, along with the Europe of energy. People will point their fingers at politicians, the French in particular, though not only them, for having narrowed their horizons to their petty national electoral interests. This is justified. ... But the European breakdown is also a consequence of the liberal British model. In energy matters, a policy aimed at encouraging competition has led neither to a lowering of prices nor to the emergence of pan-European rivals. ... The energy map of Europe currently taking shape is one in which six or seven national champions (including EDF and Suez-GDF in France, E.ON and RWE in Germany) have - and will continue to have - an interest in the status quo." (06/03/2006)

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La Vanguardia - Spain

The writer and journalist Xavier Bru de Sala analyses the consequences of the patriotic attitude of certain European countries. "If the states do not succeed in the end in braking this tendency towards consolidation, then the immense groups born of these mergers will be dealing with Brussels - a much more important step forward than the half-forgotten and forgettable European constitution. It is strange to observe that the only viable method for braking this consolidation would be a non-aggression pact. ... But rather than organising this kind of defence, with the marching order to 'Keep still!', the states encourage their own enterprises to go on the attack even as they protect them against outside aggressors. This is a true imbroglio whose most incredible and unpleasant episodes are most likely yet to come."   (06/03/2006)

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