EU: France defends new Franco-German rail giant

The French government defended allowing train maker Alstom to be swallowed by its German rival Siemens on Wednesday, September 27, as it came under attack from opponents for failing to protect a domestic industrial giant.

Alstom and Siemens, which make France’s high-speed TGV and Germany’s ICE trains, announced a tie-up late Tuesday to create a new European rail champion.

Both sides insist it is a “merger of equals”, with the combined entity to be headed by Alstom’s current chief executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge and based in the Paris region.

But Siemens will be the biggest shareholder with a 50% stake in the new company and has the option to increase this to a majority after four years, while the French state has relinquished its stake.

“Some people are free to look back at yesterday’s world. We are looking forward,” French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday, as he compared the new train maker to European aircraft maker Airbus.

The French government’s spokesman, Christophe Castaner, said people should stop playing the “pseudo-nationalism” card.

“In a context where there is a large global leader, who is Chinese, … and where this is another leader called Bombardier, boosting a European champion is certainly the best thing to do,” he said.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert similarly saw the tie-up as a “project of cooperation of European and global significance.”

It was decision taken by the two companies which was “especially important against a background of European and international challenges in the sector,” Seibert said.

Full Content: Business Live

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