French business leaders attacked the government's controversial doctrine of "economic patriotism" on Tuesday, saying it was ineffective and had hurt the way France was seen by the rest of the world.
"We should not underestimate the damage caused to the image of France by the use of certain words," Henri de Castries, head of insurance group Axa told a business conference. "Patriotism is a very important word. Using it improperly, using it as a cover for protectionism, is a serious mistake."
The expression, much used by French politicians including Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, is generally taken to mean a policy of dissuading foreign investors from making unwelcome take-over bids for key French companies. It has been widely criticised by economists, investors and competition authorities as both protectionist and ineffective.
"Patriotism for a company head means developing his company," Castries, a prominent critic of government intervention in the economy, said. Villepin defended the policy as recently as last week, saying it did no more than articulate what all governments did to defend their countries' economic interests.
The expression became a household term last year when the government reacted sharply to rumours of a bid for French yoghurt and mineral water producer Danone by US-based PepsiCo Inc.
It gained further currency earlier this year, when Villepin announced plans to merge state-owned gas distributor Gaz de France with utilities group Suez to stop a possible take-over bid for Suez by Italy's Enel. But support for the doctrine receded amid doubts about the Gaz de France/Suez merger and after European steel group Arcelor reversed course and accepted a take-over offer from Indian-owned Mittal Steel that had previously been attacked by the government.