Brussels, 17/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The third meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and Mario Monti on Monday morning was fruitful and created the impression that there would be favourable decision on the Alstom case. The European Commissioner has just announced that he was very close to an agreement on the commitments made by the French authorities, which should be finalised by the end of the week. He added that this should allow him to propose a positive decision to the College. The same optimism was displayed from the French minister for finance, who declared that what Mr Monti had just said reflected 3 hours and thirty minutes at the meeting and that he should be thanked for it. He added that there was still a need for the bases of the agreement to be finalised before making it public. The two men did not provide details of the agreement but it does appear to contain solid commitments from France regarding the break-up of the group. According to AFP, Monti thinks that the EUR 3 bn is not enough for the assets and September's safeguard plan. Mr Sarkozy submitted a project for sale which was worth EUR 1.6 bn in turn-over. What ever solution is chosen, France and the Commission appear to have found an acceptable compromise for both sides. Sarkozy said that when the Commission had declared that there was a basis for an agreement this had to be acceptable to both sides: "the Commission, which had done its work in respect of its principles and France which had made commitments to ensure the continuation of the large Alstom industrial group.