The longer Nicolas Sarkozy spends in his new job as France's finance minister, the more it looks like a trap. Last week, only days after his appointment, public-utility workers from Electricite de France (EDF) and Gaz de France (GDF) took to the streets, and caused 800 blackouts, in a protest against creeping privatisation. This week, after meeting angry union leaders, Mr Sarkozy announced he would turn the two utilities into public companies by July-though he ruled out privatisation, and promised to protect employees' privileged civil-service status. Reassurance enough? Not likely: the unions have called for protests on April 22nd and May 27th.
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