Thread by @pierrebri

Fiat withdrawing its offer for Renault is a terrible blow to Macron’s creds as business-friendly president. An unmitigated reputationnal disaster for the French government in general, and finance minister Bruno Le Maire in particular. 1/ #Fiat #Renault

French authorities first seemed to encourage the deal, before it was formally launched, then set a series of “conditions” once it became public. Posturing at its worst, all playing to the protectionist crowd for obvious political reasons. #Fiat #Renault 2/

Once its demands were met, France then used the Nissan issue as the ultimate excuse to push back, as if the (granted, serious) Nissan problem had suddenly appeared out of nowhere after a six-month Franco-Japanese crisis stemming from the Ghosn scandal. #Fiat #Renault 3/

The result today is that the French side appears as having been either incompetent or disingenuous. The deal may not be quite dead yet, but incoherence at the top in France will not make things easy. The snafu of course does nothing to strengthen Renault’s position at Nissan. 4/

Finally, another stellar result is that Italian far-right strongman Matteo Salvini, who applauded the deal, gets to look like the good business-friendly European compared to Macron’s pusillanimous nationalism. Quite an achievement for the French side. #Fiat #Renault 5/

(And btw, this not really the good-old French dirigisme of lore, more like political posturing and grandstanding getting its tail caught in the proverbial big fat wringer...)