A new front explodes between France and Italy, after those on migrants and, most recently, on support for the gilets jaunes by the 5 Star Movement. Indeed, it would be better to say it explodes again, because the duel on the Saint-Nazaire shipyards, on which the Italian group Fincantieri has been aiming for some time, had already held court at the end of summer 2017, when Paris had done everything to prevent the passage of the Stx naval company, previously controlled by a Korean group, to Fincantieri. Then the agreement had been reached but now France is once again standing in the way of the operation, this time together with Germany: both countries have in fact asked the European Antitrust to open a procedure because the deal would involve the risk of harm " significantly to competition in the shipbuilding industry”.
Brussels for its part explains that the proposed acquisition does not reach the turnover thresholds envisaged by the EU regulation on mergers which must be notified to the Commission, but that it was itself the subject of notification by the competition authorities of Paris and Berlin and that therefore the final decision could lean in favor of the appellant countries: “On the basis of the elements provided by France and Germany, and without prejudice to the results of its exhaustive investigation – they in fact argue to the EU – the Commission believes that the transaction could significantly harm competition in the shipbuilding sector, in particular with regard to the world cruise ship market”.
Fincantieri has not commented for now, but today the stock plummets on the stock exchange, where it loses more than 6% in the mid-morning, below the euro per share. The agreement reached in 2017 foresaw a compromise: Fincantieri will have 50% of Stx France, the company that operates in the historic factories of Saint Nazaire, near Nantes, but veto power to the French state on strategic issues. So governance solidly in the hands of the Italians with CEO and majority on the board, but with a sword of Damocles that Paris has evidently decided to play as a joker now, trying once again to stop an agreement that seemed to have satisfied everyone, including the French president Emmanuel Macron himself who spoke of creating “a world champion in the naval sector , civil and military, through an equal partnership”.
The clash now is above all political. The fact that France and Germany jointly appealed to the EU Antitrust (one of Fincantieri's main competitors in the naval sector is based in the German country) suggests a reconstitution of the Franco-German axis and immediately sparked reactions in Italy . Matteo Salvini comments on the story as "the umpteenth demonstration that Europe does not exist or exists in a one-way street". The deputy premier accuses France and Germany who appealed against Fincantieri "because it dared to acquire a French company". And if in Paris even the Ministry of the Economy downplays ("normal procedure") the French move, via the competition authority, it has clearly displaced the Italian government.
“I'm surprised – admits Giuseppe Conte -. In many other sectors of economic activity there are other countries that are advantaged. It would seem strange to me that there were constraints and obstacles to this Italian excellence, I hope that no obstacles arise". It is yet another setback in a story that has been dragging on for some time. The closing of the transaction was to take place at the beginning of 2019 but in the meantime the Chantiers de l'Atlantique have returned to state ownership since July. And it is no longer clear if and when they will be handed over to Italy.
