Brussels, 12/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, wants European companies to be given preference for public tender, with non-EU countries expected to open up their own markets if they are to have access to the EU.
On the presidential election campaign trail on Sunday 11 March 2012, Sarkozy said that he agreed with free trade, but not with unfair competition and Europe should not allow countries that have not opened their own markets to get access to EU markets because that would not be free trade, but allowing Europe to become a doormat. He pointed out that a requirement for reciprocity was not the same as protectionism, but rather fair competittion among the world's big markets. Taking the example of the United States which, he said, had been forced by law since 1933 to only use products made in the United States, a law extended 30 years ago to all road and public transport infrastructure contracts subsidised by the government. Sarkozy said it was disgraceful that the EU bans what is allowed in the United States, the most free-trade country in the world. He said France would be asking, if he was reelected, that Europe introduced a Buy European Act along the lines of the Buy American Act so that companies manufacturing in Europe benefit from European public funding. Moreover, if no real progress is made on the demand for reciprocity with the EU's main trading partners over the course of a year, then France would apply the Buy European Act in its own country while waiting for the EU to catch up. France, he said, would also require European small businesses to have a certain percentage of public tender contracts reserved for them.
Reacting on Monday to Sarkozy's comments, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier called for a non-protectionist solution and said that he, Barnier, was working with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on a proposal to ensure better reciprocity from countries like China in the field of public tender. He said the proposal would be a good, non-protectionist, measure that would allow reciprocity in certain conditions and would give the EU leverage over its trading partners. The European Commission will be publishing the draft legislation on 21 March 2012. It will restrict access to EU public contracts for companies from outside the EU which do not offer equivalent conditions to EU companies applying for similar contracts in the non-EU companies' home country (see EUROPE 10545). (EH/transl.fl)