EU Commissie wil meer duidelijkheid van Franse regering over auto-industrie (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has indicated it is still seeking explanations from the French administration regarding its recent controversial statements on national car production.
"We are still awaiting clarification from the French authorities," said the commission's competition spokesman Jonathan Todd on Monday (18 January) at a news conference in Brussels.
Paris appeared to ramp up pressure on Renault last week as news emerged the French car manufacturer was considering switching production of its Clio 4 model to Turkey.
"If a car is destined for sale in France it has to be produced in France," said French industry minister Christian Estrosi in remarks appeared reminiscent to similar language used by the administration in early 2009.
That dispute was finally settled last February following pledges from former industry minister Luc Chatel that a €6 billion support package for the country's struggling car industry would not impact production decisions.
A letter sent from Paris to EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes last Friday stated French government involvement in Renault was limited to its role as a 15 percent shareholder in the company, but this does not appear to have assuaged commission fears over a possible breach of EU competition rules.
"The commissioner has explained to minister Estrosi that the commission services have an obligation to obtain clarifications as to the status of the February 2009 undertakings," said the commission spokesman.
Election rhetoric
Observers say the recent comments are part of the French administration's drive to prove to voters ahead of regional elections in March that they are committed to protecting French industry.
A meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn over the weekend prompted the president's chief of staff, Claude Guéant, to insist afterwards that the government had won everything it had asked for.
"Carlos Ghosn said very clearly that the Clio 4s corresponding to the French market will be made in France, and the same for the Clio Threes," Mr Guéant told Europe1 radio.
But in an indication of the current tensions on the factory floor, Fred Dijoux, leader of the CFDT union at Renault, said the government's handling of the dispute amounted to a "masquerade of spin," reports the Financial Times.