Euronext - NYSE alliance and economic patriotism

In the avalanche of comments and analysis about the potential merger between Euronext and NYSE, announced on Monday, May 22, one voice was conspicuously missing: that of French politicians. No claims of “economic patriotism”, no enflamed defence of the national champion. When Le Monde, in its May 24 edition, expressed a surprise at this lack of reaction, it reported a comment from a knowledgeable source: “ Euronext is not Danone or Arcelor.” No wonder the comment was anonymous: if it is true it only confirms the widely held view of economic illiteracy of French elites: leading marketplace less important strategically than a yoghourt or steel producer?
When a political voice was finally heard, on May 25, is was not one of the leaders, exalted Mr. de Villepin or haughty Mr. Breton but a Jean Arthuis backbencher from the upper house, Senate, who expressed his regrets and condemnation of French banks for their greed and short-termism. Jean Arthuis is a respected figure and ex-Minister of Finance but is affiliated with the centrist party UDF, which cannot make up its mind whether to oppose or to support the present government and the ruling party. He is clearly not an official spokesman.
The main reason for the silence of politicians is that the “economic patriotism” did in fact play a major role in the Euronext decision. It was the main reason for the rejection of Deutsche Borse (DBAG) bid. Euronext may be incorporated in Amsterdam and run a number of businesses in London, it is still a French-run and dominated company. And there is no way that it could accept a German takeover (which what a “merger” between DBAG and Euronext would amount to).  One only has to remember the old dream of union between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, which was practically an official policy during the 1990s but always foundered on the question of leadership and DT is so much bigger than FT.