L'UE envisage une protection contre les fonds d'Etat étrangers

German Chancellor Angela Merkel  said: "One can question whether these funds are solely concerned with attaining a high return on capital…State-owned funds can also have politico-strategic aims in mind that could be problematic in sensitive areas." She added: "This is a new phenomenon that we must tackle with some urgency…It's responsible to have an EU-wide discussion about this." 

The Chancellor expressed her preference for US procedures, which allow the government to vet possible acquisitions by such funds, notably in defence-related areas. She added that she was "worried" that if no common EU-wide approach is taken, each member state would adopt its own standards, opening the door to protectionist attitudes, such as in France, where strategic industries are defined "in a very broad way" (EurActiv 01/09/05). 

Commission Vice-President Guenter Verheugen said that it was a matter of finding the right balance between defending the freedoms enshrined in the EU Treaty, such as the free movement of capital, and defending the EU's wider interests. "I understand the view that we have industrial sectors in Europe that have a strategic importance," he told Reuters, but added: "The question is, if you want to defend a strategic industry, how far can you go without creating strong distortions of the market and violating treaty principles?" 

Oliver Drewes, spokesman for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, said: "We believe in the internal market, which is based on certain principles of freedom…We want to assure a guarantee that everybody who operates on that internal market, which also has of course an external dimension, operates on the principles of that freedom as well." 

Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "These huge state-backed funds are a new phenomenon. I agree that they raise new questions. But I do not agree that our immediate conclusion should be to reject their investment in Europe. I would be more worried if Europe's markets were not attractive to such investment...Would we be content to see such funds invested everywhere but in Europe? I think not." 

Nevertheless, he said that blocking foreign investment could be legitimate in cases in which foreign state-controlled funds seek to take over EU companies in sensitive industries, which are protected domestically by the buying country. "Maybe we could create European golden shares. But the aim must always be reciprocal market openness not reciprocal protectionism," he told an Italian business paper, adding that Brussels must have the last word on this subject. 

The British government has not yet issued a response, but Merkel's plan is likely to meet resistance from the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, who is keen to protect the country's investment-friendly image. Earlier this month he criticised European governments trying to limit foreign competition, saying: "I think it is nonsense," he said. "Economic patriotism is protectionism, and there is no other name for it."