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Fiat Fiasco Highlight’s Macron’s Need for a Macron-Like Adviser

Fiat Fiasco Highlight’s Macron’s Need for a Macron-Like Adviser

(Bloomberg) --

Emmanuel Macron needs another Macron in his office.

As an economics adviser and later a minister to French President Francois Hollande, the former Rothschild banker ushered through a series of mergers for domestic companies such as Alstom SA and TechnipFMC Plc, and opened up new markets for retailers and transport companies.

As president, Macron has had less success with industrial policy. His meddling with Air France-KLM’s management so alarmed the Dutch government it took the drastic step of buying a stake in the airline. He angered the Italian government over ever changing conditions for a shipyard merger and failed to line up European support for a French-German train company tie-up.

And now, insistent French demands appear to have played a role in scuppering a much needed alliance for carmaker Renault SA.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV late Wednesday abruptly withdrew its offer to combine with Renault after the French carmaker’s board postponed a decision on Fiat’s merger proposal. People close to Fiat say the stumbling block was multiple attempts by Paris to renegotiate the merger to increase French control. France owns 15% of Renault and has two seats on the board.

“Everything in these matters of state shareholding is done in the wrong order it seems,” Ludovic Subran, chief economist at credit insurer Euler Hermes, said in an interview. “The state is hyperactive, hyper-present, which only complicated matters in talks.”

Political Stumble

Macron’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire issued a statement Thursday saying they had requested more time to ensure the support of Renault’s Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., and French officials have expressed surprise at how abruptly Fiat quit the talks.

Macron’s Elysee office has referred all requests for comment to the finance ministry.

Macron has never appointed a high profile economics adviser and the 41-year-old president’s failure to effectively delegate may be one of the most critical signs of his inexperience.

His adviser on state holdings left in March to become a junior minister for digital affairs, and his responsibilities were spread between several aides. Macron’s gone long stretches without filling key position such as press officer and political adviser, and people close to the president say he dislikes the hiring process and simply avoids it.

The political stumble wasn’t lost on Macron’s adversaries, with Italy’s deputy prime minister -- who previously got into a war of words with the French president -- offering critical advice.

The outcome of the Fiat-Renault negotiations show that “when politics tries to intervene in economic procedures it doesn’t always do good,” Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said in an interview on Rai Radio 1 on Thursday.

--With assistance from William Horobin and John Follain.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net;Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo, Flavia Krause-Jackson

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.