Macron’s administration has taken a leaf out of Trump’s policy book as they blocked a Canadian company takeover of French retailer Carrefour. The government acted to preserve the country’s food security and sovereignty.
The French government acted quickly to block a takeover bid as it could have threatened France’s food security. The Macron administration’s “France first” policy was on full display. President Trump had put “America First” and had exposed the corrupt and biased nature of globalised mechanisms. Now, Macron understands the importance of putting the state first over liberalised global economic tools.
French Economic Minister Bruno Le Maire, with a compelling show of economic patriotism, made clear that the Government is preventing Canada’s Couche-Tard food from taking over the supermarket giant Carrefour.
“This health crisis has taught us one thing — food security has no price,” Le Maire said in a radio interview with the RMC network, making clear that Paris is “not in favour of this deal” and would use its investment screening mechanism to block it, if necessary. “It’s a polite, but clear and definitive no.”
“Food security is at the core of the strategic challenges of all developed nations,” he said. France extended its anti-takeover powers to new sectors including food retail in 2019. Le Maire said he was ready to use them to block the Canadians. “We have a tool. It turns out that we have been far-sighted,” Le Maire said while hoping he wouldn’t need to activate it.
The global pandemic provides an additional argument for France and other EU countries to oppose foreign takeovers in an era where tougher investment screening is also a mantra in Brussels.
“We were happy to have our distributors, particularly in March during the first lockdown, playing the game of supply security … the lesson I draw from all this is that food security is indeed strategic for our country and that you don’t give up one of the big French distributors,” La Maire explained, adding that Carrefour is the No. 1 private employer in France and accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the country’s food supply.
A trade union welcomed Le Maire’s statement, fearing that the takeover might result in layoffs. But the Canadian buyer is ready to invest approximately €2.9 billion in Carrefour, according to Bloomberg.
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Former President Trump used to put America First in his trade deals and the subsequent trade wars with China. French President Macron has now put France first. As if replicating Trump’s strategy to protect domestic business interests and national security Macron’s government has stopped the forces of globalisation in a sector where it feels opening up might create domestic turbulence and a state of insecurity.
