ECONOMIC INTERPENETRATION / (eu) investments

- France: French direct investments abroad fell by more than half in 2001 to 88.2 bn euro, compared to 187.2 bn in 2000, say the Ministry of the Economy and the Banque de France. This fall may be explained by the size of mergers and acquisitions by French groups in 2000, the largest having been, that year, the purchase by FRANCE TELECOM of the mobile phone operator ORANGE. In addition, in 2001, the banking sector reduced its operations vis-à-vis the rest of the world by 10.3 bn euro,...