A magician loses his touch

摘要

When Dominique de Villepin posed for the cameras in February, flanked by two French energy bosses who had agreed to merge their companies, France's prime minister must have felt he had pulled off a spectacular conjuring trick. The two firms, Gaz de France (GDF) , the state-controlled gas utility, and Suez, a private water and power company, would combine to create a French energy giant in the name of "economic patriotism"-and, in doing so, pre-empt a possible rival Italian bid for Suez. Although the Italians were incensed, it looked like a populist winner at home: appealing to the French taste for national champions, and pandering to their sour protectionist mood.