Rise and fall of THE French state as a shareholder
The very notion of the “State as a Shareholder” is full of contradictions.
The State as a Shareholder wants everything and its opposite at the same time:
- its patrimonial and political dimension
- public service duties and market economy
- priority to profitability and concern for regional planning
- desire for reform but also social stability
- openness to competition but also priority for national champions
- appetite for dividends but also price regulation
- short-term urgency and strategic vision
- ever-greater quality with ever-fewer resources
These contradictory desiderata explain why France’s performance is so uneven: its achievements correspond primarily to the sectors in which the State as a Shareholder is involved.
AMONG THE ACHIEVEMENTS of the French State as a Shareholder:
- success in a fast-growing sector despite the Covid (AIRBUS, NAVAL GROUP, SAFRAN and THALES)
- discreet but very effective pragmatism (in the case of RAFALE aircraft)
- a radical business model transformation (LA POSTE)
AMONG THE FAILURES of the French State as a Shareholder:
- financial deterioration of EDF and its aging nuclear power plants
- AIR FRANCE’s lack of competitiveness given the absence of structural reforms
- the SNCF’s debt and its outdated railway network