The sale of the French Atlantic Workshops to the Italian group Fincantieri, bogged down for many months, has, except for surprise, gone to fail, to the great relief of employees and some elected officials.
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The sale agreement provides for the transaction to be finalized by December 31.
However, the Italian public group has still not submitted to the European Commission the information it requests from it in the context of its in-depth investigation into the impact of the sale on competition in the shipbuilding sector.
Without a response by Thursday or the granting of a new deadline, the transfer agreement, already postponed four times, will fall.
Asked by AFP, the European Commission indicates that "
the watch is blocked
" because "
the missing information is not provided by the parties
".
“
We feel that we have done everything we should and could do.
For our part, we can not do more
", for its part told AFP a spokesperson for Fincantieri, recalling that"
the contract expired on December 31 by the will of the parties: Fincantieri and the French State Participation Agency
”.
The French Ministry of the Economy did not comment.
Since 2017, a sale plan provides for Fincantieri to hold 50% of the capital, plus an additional 1% loaned by the French State - which reserves the right to take it back if the Italian group does not respect its commitments.
The file is strategic, the construction sector of large cruise ships still being a European preserve in the face of competition from Asia.
Three sites share the market: Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Fincantieri and the German Meyer Werft.
However, an alliance forged between the Italian company and the Chinese CSCC to build liners raises the fear of letting the wolf into the fold.
A sensitive issue on the diplomatic level
"From the start, we have been fiercely opposed" to the sale, reminds AFP Nathalie Durand-Prinborgne, delegate of the FO union at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, referring to "
the technology transfer contract between Fincantieri and the Chinese CSSC
".
But "
as long as it is not January 1, we do not cry victory
".
The socialist mayor of Saint-Nazaire David Samzun also wishes "
of course that this sale will not go to the end
", fearing a "
loss of know-how
" of the Chantiers which could become an
adjustment
"
variable
" for Fincantieri.
On the diplomatic level, the file is sensitive.
After the signing of the agreement, however hard negotiated, it was France and Germany who had seized the European Commission.
The gesture had made cringe in Rome, where the head of government Giuseppe Conte had criticized an “
ambiguous
” and “
incomprehensible
”
behavior
of Paris.
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In an information report published at the end of October, the French senators of the Economic Affairs Committee estimated that "
the silence of Fincantieri (in the face of the requests of the Commission, editor's note) seemed to testify to the reluctance of the Italian group to continue
" the project. redemption, to which they are unfavorable.
“
What we see is that nobody is moving for the moment, neither the European Commission nor Fincantieri.
We have the impression that the State is saying
"
yes it has to be done
"
and that everyone wants to get out of there with their hands clean and their heads held high,
"said Nathalie Durand-Prinborgne.
For Fincantieri, “
a possible decision could only be political
”.
