Frankrijk broedt op eigen manier met globalisering om te gaan (en)
France should work for a "much more offensive policy of protection, solidarity and regulation" at an EU level in order to better face globalisation, according to a report by former French foreign affairs minister Hubert Vedrine.
It should also have the right to protect key or "strategic" sectors of its economy, Mr Vedrine writes in the 63-page document.
"I see globalisation neither as a chance, nor as blight, simply as a fact to which one has to adapt", the former minister is quoted as saying by Le Figaro.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy in July asked Mr Vedrine to draft a report on how the country should respond to the challenges of globalisation.
The report comes at a time when the European Commission is trying to promote more openness and a positive view of globalisation, as well as less national champions.
But if the principles in the report are followed, it is set to be a blow to the commission's willingness to embrace globalisation.
"We still haven't really worked out how to be political about globalisation - except, in most cases, by opposing it. And that's our problem", EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said at a symposium on globalisation on 3 September.
"Imposing punitive measures raises a cheer for politicians. It may provide some temporary relief. It is often both justified and right. But if it is inhibiting European companies from pursuing rational production strategies (_) it can also be counterproductive", he added.
The French are traditionally hostile to globalisation, due to a number of reasons - an attachment to the protective state, to national identity and a language which they judge threatened by "the anglophone tide" and Americanisation.
There is also a persistent moral disgust for market economy and profit, reads the report.
Recent figures even indicate a certain "globalophobia", says Mr Vedrine, as two different polls this year showed that 74% of French are worried by globalisation and believe it will have a negative effect on salaried employees.
However, the French are not the only ones who view globalisation with some fear.
While 18% of them favour it, only 17 percent of Spanish and Americans and 15 percent of British citizens view the phenomenon positively, according to a poll published by the Financial times last spring.