Franse president Sarkozy verdedigt zijn plan om autoindustrie te helpen (en)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy i has defended his country's support plan for the automobile sector despite growing criticism from a number of EU states.
Speaking from Kuwait City on Wednesday (11 February), where he is currently on a tour of Gulf States, Mr Sarkozy said the plan had "nothing to do with protectionism."
He continued that other EU states were welcome to put funds into French plants in their markets but that it was his responsibility "to keep jobs in France."
If approved by the European commission, the French plan announced on Monday would provide PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault €6 billion in loans.
For their part, recipient companies must promise not to close factories or cut jobs in France. The automobile sector currently employs one-in-ten workers in France.
However competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said on Tuesday that the commission had "certain concerns" regarding the deal, adding: "the commission is going to look very closely at the French plan."
"If there is an additional condition such as keeping a production plant in France, that would make the aid illegal," he warned.
In a bid to secure approval for the deal, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon will fly to Brussels on Thursday to speak with commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
However a number of EU states appear to have strong reservations over the French bail-out of its automobile sector, fearing that it could have negative impacts on their own economies.
"These are issues that affect us all ... and we must make sure that there is a level playing field where EU competition law applies," the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said on Wednesday.
Mr Sarkozy has already endured a barrage of criticism over the plans from the Czech Republic, which is currently chairing the EU.
The Czechs were outraged by suggestions made by Mr Sarkozy last week that French car companies should relocate foreign production plants to France. PSA Peugeot Citroen currently operates a large production outfit outside Prague.