What is demonstrated is that shareholders only think about maximizing the value of the shares and that it is therefore a purely financial strategy, very far from the objective of the company, which is to provide cutting-edge technology to a sector such as transport, which contributes 2.9% to GDP.
The saga of the public takeover bid by the Hungarian group Ganz-Ma VAg for the Spanish company Talgo seems to be coming to an end, after the veto by the Spanish government and the approval of this decision by Brussels.
Exceptionalism in this case means breaking the single market and the free movement of capital within the EU, with the argument that the security of a state can be undermined by the takeover of a company classified as strategic.
The problem that arises comes from a contradiction in the capitalist system that blesses the complete freedom of movement of capital, except when national security or the provision of essential services, such as electricity, gas, oil or others, may be at stake. In this case, the argument is that Talgo’s technology could be transferred to the Russians, now enemies of the EU after the start of the war in Ukraine, even though many countries continue to do business with Russia, through third parties.
This contradiction, which can be called commodity capitalism, escapes the heart of the fundamental problem which is none other than the fact that our own national industry is a guarantee, not so much of security or supply, but of competitive advantage and much healthier economic progress, which, like Spain today, depends on the economic cycle of tourism and hospitality.
What is demonstrated in the case of Talgo is that the shareholders only think about maximising the value of the shares and that it is therefore a purely financial strategy, very far from the company’s objective, which is to provide cutting-edge technology to a sector such as transport, which contributes 2.9% to GDP. This fact, which is not taken into account in any of the analyses, puts the executive itself and the European Commission in check, in a film of espionage and counter-espionage, but whose economic impact is infinitely greater than the alleged security problem raised by the Spanish government.
Spain, which could be an industrial power in many areas, and railways are one of them, has gradually lost the added value of a large part of the industry, whose decision-making centres have been located outside Spain, which makes our country mere assemblers, as is the case, for example, with the automobile industry. Entry into the EU, the Common Market at the time, has led to the loss of a large part of the industrial apparatus, which explains the low level of research and development in Spain, which has an impact on the productivity of factors, particularly capital, as IVIE and BBVA have recently demonstrated.
The abandonment of industry, under the paradigm that the State should not be a producer of anything, leaving its role to the provision of basic services such as education, health and social services, has impoverished Spain compared to the countries around us. In some cases, such as in France, they keep certain sectors under public control. In the case of Talgo, one of the great problems it faces is that it lacks a strategic partner to provide it with capital and, above all, the financial power to undertake the volume of investment necessary to diligently and solvently meet its order book. worldwide. Double-track technology is highly valued by many countries where Talgo has customers, and it will be one of the variants implemented in border states with different track widths.
For all this, and taking into account the stock market value of this company, 620 million euros, it would be interesting to study that the State definitively enters Talgo and assumes the costs of expansion and creation of value of a leading company, which would entail a reduction in the cost of Renfe’s supply costs and with this, the possibility of losing, once again, the technological race and the future of an industry that allows balancing the excessive weight of low-level added services is closed.
The nationalization of industry, in basic sectors, is a trend that the EU should allow, getting rid of the absurd ideological clichés that have left a large part of the weakest states at the mercy of speculative investment funds. The financialization of the economy has destroyed a large part of the most productive jobs that we once had in Spain and has pushed us towards the indigenous depopulation of large cities and the abuse of dominant positions in large basic sectors for citizens, such as food, housing and, little by little, health, education, transport and social services. This has been possible thanks to the disastrous European regulation that, pushed by the big lobbies, has wanted all essential European economic activities to be managed in the stock market casino and whose only objective is to maximize shareholder value, inciting a large part of the population to unemployment or underemployment.
In conclusion, due to Talgo’s economic dimension and its strategic importance, Spain should become a shareholder, as a strategic and financial majority partner, so that rail transport and the auxiliary industry achieve the security and solvency that our country needs. It is simply a question of political will and good work from Brussels.
