German attack on France over Sanofi-Aventis

Germany's Economics Minister, Wolfgang Clement, has sharpened the already-tense position between his country and France over the latter government's intervention in support of the Sanofi-Aventis merger (Marketletters passim).

He has slammed the return in France of "statist and interventionist policies," especially at a time when Franco-German cooperation is especially close. Earlier, his French counterpart, Nicholas Sarkozy, had given his support to a national industrial solution for the problems of the ailing Alstom engineering group in rejecting approaches by Siemens.

Mr Clement's statements reflect German public opinion, which appears to believe that German interests have been undermined and even betrayed by French President Jacques Chirac in the Aventis affair. Earlier, Mr Chirac had agreed with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that they would remain neutral when Sanofi originally indicated its interest in a takeover.