Sarkozy roept EU op om eigen industrie te beschermen (en)
French president Nicolas Sarkozy i on Tuesday (24 February) called on the EU to protect its industry in the face of US protectionism, and said France and Italy would insist on this during a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday.
"There must be competition, but competition to build big European groups, not to make the totalities of our industries delocalise. France and Italy will as soon as Sunday [at an emergency EU summit] speak with one voice to ask Europe to take decisions, strong decisions," Mr Sarkozy told the press following a meeting with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome.
"You know how much I cherish the friendship with the United States, but if the United States defends its farmers as it does, maybe we can do the same in Europe. If the United States defends its industry, as it does - and they are right - maybe in Europe we can do the same," he added.
The French president's comments come as the US earlier this month adopted a $787 billion (€617 billion) package to boost its economy. The bill contains "Buy American" provisions prohibiting foreign steel companies bidding for US infrastructure contracts financed by the plan. The European Commission has already raised concerns about the clause.
France itself has been accused of protectionism after earlier this month unblocking €6.5 billion for its car industry, and Mr Sarkozy speaking out against delocalistion of French factories, notably to eastern Europe.
Later on, Spain and Italy also adopted state aid schemes for their ailing car industries, with Germany also considering a bailout of car maker Opel.
The French president defended the moves, arguing that member states were forced to take such measures because of the lack of a common EU policy.
"An industrial policy is not a swear word," he said.
"I would have very much preferred if there had been a co-ordinated European policy to support the automobile industry. If we didn't do it, if we had to act bilaterally, it is precisely because that was not being done at a multilateral European level," he added.
Franco-Italian nuclear deal
The Franco-Italian meeting also marked Italy's return to nuclear energy after a 21-year ban, as it signed an agreement with France to build new atomic plants.
The countries' energy firms ENEL (Italy) and EDF (France) are to build at least four European pressurised water nuclear reactors (EPRs), with the first of them to be operational by 2020, the BBC reports.
"We have to wake up, and adapt to a future of renewable energy and nuclear power," Mr Berlusconi said at the joint press conference.
"France is making available its know-how and that will allow us to save several years and start the construction of nuclear plants in a limited amount of time," he added.
For his part, Ms Sarkozy called the deal "historic" and said his country was providing "an unlimited partnership" with Italy in the development of "clean energy."
Both Paris and Rome want "nuclear power to become a European issue, because it represents the key for development," he added.
In November 1987, a year after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Italians voted in a referendum to close the nuclear power stations in the country.
The unfreeze comes amidst a general tendency in Europe to return to nuclear, with Sweden also lifting a ban on atomic plants earlier this month, and the UK government agreeing in January to build a new generation of nuclear plants in Britain.
"By 2020, nuclear plants will have to be massively developed, nobody can in any way veto that," the French president said.
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