France’s Macron nationalizes shipyard, provokes row with Italy

by Dramelin 7:00 AM 0 comments

The newly-elected French president has sparked a row with Italy over the sale of a shipyard, raising questions over his pro-European credentials.
Rome had agreed to buy a majority stake in the French shipyard but President Emmanuel Macron wants shared control.
Officials from both countries failed to reach an agreement on Tuesday.
But they hope to conclude talks by the end of September.
Under the former French President Francois Hollande, France agreed to sell a controlling stake in STX to Italy`s Fincatieri.
The agreement in principle, reached earlier this year, said that Fincantieri, which is owned by the Italian government, would acquire 66.
66 percent of the share capital of STX France, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
But Macron, who was elected in May, decided to review the deal and announced last week he was ready to scrap the agreement and temporarily nationalize the shipyard.