At the end of a visit to Rome by French transport minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday 1 August, he and his Italian counterpart, Pier Carlo Padoan, pledged to find a solution to the question of STX France, the French shipyards at Saint-Nazaire.
In a joint statement, the two transport ministers say that the French and Italian governments expressed a common desire to overcome their differences about balance in STX’s capital. A solution is likely to be forthcoming by 27 September, when the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is due to meet the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni.
The two countries’ crisis is due to temporary nationalisation of the Saint Nazaire shipyards by the new French government, despite an agreement by the previous French government that 48% of the shipyards’ capital would go to Italian company Fincantieri and 6% to an Italian foundation based in Trieste. This would have given Italy more than 50% of the total capital and it is the demand for an absolute majority that is the focus of the disagreement between the two countries. The 1 August meeting was not able to find a solution.
The two transport ministers gave themselves until the end of September to find a mutually acceptable solution and hope to give a new impulse to cooperation in the naval industry. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)