Emmanuel Macron Gets a Lesson in Capitalism
The French state needs to get out of the way of its industrial leaders, or missed opportunities like Fiat-Renault will keep happening.
Let someone else drive.
Photographer: Vincent Isore/IP3/Getty Images EuropeThe hunt for a scapegoat for the collapse of the merger talks between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Renault SA is in full cry. There’s furious leaking on all sides: The Italians blame the French, the French blame Fiat and the reluctance of Renault’s partner Nissan Motor Co Ltd. to bless the deal. A lot of people on both sides blame Bruno Le Maire, Emmanuel Macron’s finance minister, whose eleventh-hour request for more time to bring Nissan on board was the final straw for Fiat.
While it’s too simplistic to lay all of the culpability at the feet of Le Maire and Macron (did Fiat really think it could stitch together a huge, politically sensitive cross-border car deal in just 15 days?), it has become worryingly common for overconfident Parisian technocrats to slip up on problems of their own making. There are lessons here for Macron when it comes to handling France’s web of government holdings, including its 15 percent ownership of Renault.