Unshackling France SA

IF DINNER PARTIES were permitted in locked-down France, it is not hard to guess what would set le tout Paris aflutter. For months bankers, politicians and other pre-covid canapé-scoffers have taken sides in a corporate battle royale pitting two century-old firms against each other. Veolia, a water- and waste-management utility, has been struggling to gobble up Suez, a rival which is resisting fiercely. The proposed deal is mired in legal disputes, boardroom recriminations and ministerial intrigue. All grist to the mill for those who see French business as the product of its politicians’ dirigiste tendency to shape the private sector in the mould of the

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