The Italian press is currently outraged by the behaviour of the French government. While the Italian energy ex-monopoly company ENEL was launching an OPA over the French Suez, state-owned Gaz de France started what amounts to a re-nationalisation of Suez, in order to keep it "in French hands".

This is obviously done in spite of mainstream EU policy, the general consensus being that "national exceptions" no longer apply for companies once they are privatised. French politicians explicitly welcomed the outcome as a victory for France, while it actually looks like a big loss for the EU single market, if such a thing ever existed. Xenophobic forces in Italy will certainly use this as another case in point for opposing EU integration during the ongoing election campaign.

What do the ET crowd think about this?