HASIn both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, what clearly matters, beyond the performance of the athletes, is the ranking of the countries. We celebrate the meeting of peoples and continents, but we exacerbate the nationalist fibre. In economic matters, it is somewhat the same: we praise (less and less) the virtues of free trade, but we do not lose sight of the national interest, whatever the economic cost. And this trend is increasing.
This return to school is thus marked by three cases that demonstrate this once again. The Japanese are concerned about the interest of the Canadian group Couche-Tard in their national institution, the 7-Eleven stores. The government is being pressured to oppose it. In Germany, another monument is arousing envy: the Thyssen conglomerate. Its steel division is to be bought 50% by the Czech Daniel Kretinsky, but the controversy is growing. On August 29, the chairman of the group’s supervisory board, Sigmar Gabriel, a former minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, resigned forcefully, as did the head of the steel branch, Bernhard Osburg. They criticise the group’s management in the context of major restructuring plans.
An emblematic case
In Spain, the government finally blocked the acquisition of the local train champion at the last minute. An emblematic case. Talgo is a renowned company that sells regional trains and TGVs in many countries. But this company, founded in 1947 by José Luis Oriol, is now majority-owned by foreign investment funds. The main one is the Trilantic group, created in New York by former Lehman Brothers bankers, which owns more than 40%.
We must believe that the United States scares Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez less than his partner in the European Union, Viktor Orban. The consortium that wants to take over the Madrid manufacturer is, in fact, formed by a colleague of Talgo, the Magyar Vagon group, supported by the Corvinus investment fund, owned by the Hungarian state. The Spanish government has not clarified its decision. But Hungary’s pro-Russian positions, as well as its reputation as a gateway to Chinese industrial interests in Europe, surely played a role.
Whether social, economic or political, there are countless obstacles in the way of the sweets trade today. And it is not France, which is protective of its railway manufacturer Alstom and which banned the acquisition of Carrefour by the Canadian company Couche-Tard, that will say otherwise. The medal comes first.
