Sarkozy regime unlikely to end mutual distrust between Britain and France

People could be forgiven for believing the centuries-old feud between Britain and France was about to be ended by the son of a Hungarian ad salesman who officially takes over as President of France today.

Business lobby groups, Thatcherite politicians and Anglo-Saxon supporters generally were issuing “end of the world” type warnings before the French presidential election.

But just days after the vote that gave Nicolas Sarkozy the job of President of France — with 6% more of the vote than his opponent, Ségolène Royal — business and Britain appeared to be not too sure.

Suddenly the business media has been full of stories tracing the inconsistencies of Mr Sarkozy and warning that France under him could after all continue to behave like, well, France.

He was liked well enough by his fellow liberal-minded finance ministers in the EU when he was one of their number. They believed they could do business with him.

And he has promised reforms, pressing many of the right buttons for investment and business such as making it easier to hire and fire people, bursting the 35-hour working week and reducing the huge plethora of state employees.

But they are less keen on his promises to cut taxes — albeit by 4% over 10 years — and to increase spending on a range of sectors, including on defence. France’s armaments industry is worth €2 billion a year, which is double that of Britain’s.

The ministers are also concerned about Mr Sarkozy’s proven track record in protecting France’s assets and putting the national interest, as he sees it, first.

Despite an EU policy of privatising state companies such as electricity, water and gas, France has been slow to do so. And Mr Sarkozy is on record as saying he has no intention of selling off Gaz de France, for instance.

The British are furious about this French liking for “national champions” and what they call “political meddling in corporate decision-making”.

They went ahead and sold off the family silver with the all the zeal of Margaret Thatcher — only to see the French state companies help themselves to them. They own a considerable share of British water, telecoms and transport for instance.

However, Europe is not alone in wondering exactly what kind of person Mr Sarkozy is. Few in France seemed to know, even those who declared they were voting for him.

Listening to his many speeches, including his victory speech, it was easy to see why. He has appeared to steal everyone’s clothes and adopt whatever policy was necessary to win niche vote areas. And he did so quite successfully, judging from the breakdown of where his votes came from.

Voting for him was declared to be a vote for change. But nobody appears to be sure what the change will be. Productivity per working hour is sky high in France despite, or because of, the 35-hour working week; government spending has come into line with EU requirements though its debt is excessive; it has an excellent health system that costs less per person than Ireland’s; and its public transport is a dream.

So it’s to be hoped these do not change. But Mr Sarkozy has promised that whatever change does happen will be during his first 100 days in office.

But even if he turns France into Britain, it’s fair to suspect that the mutual distrust will remain between these close neighbours.

One clue as to why was on display at Place de la Concorde, where Mr Sarkozy’s supporters partied after his victory. A display outside the Navy building recounted the French victory at Chesapeake in 1781, which paved the way for George Washington’s success and so deprived the British of the US once and for all.