France is to nationalise its biggest shipyard at St-Nazaire rather than allow it to pass into Italian ownership, its economy minister has announced.



The nationalisation, which was confirmed on Thursday afternoon, will mark President Emmanuel Macron’s first major industrial policy intervention, and appears a far cry from the former banker’s usual philosophy.

Macron’s economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, said the government had “taken the decision to exercise the state’s pre-emption rights” to buy up the STX France shipyard rather than allow its sale. But he insisted it was a temporary move, to allow time for a better deal and agreement to emerge, adding that the shipyards were not intended to remain under state control.

After the collapse of its South Korean owner, STX, last year, only one bidder came forward to buy its two-third holding for €79.5m (£71m), the Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri. Such a deal was controversial as it would allow the Italian firm to control a site of strategic interest for France, as well as potentially leaving thousands of French jobs more vulnerable in a downturn.

A compromise deal had been reached under Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, which would have still effectively left Italy with a majority shareholding. Le Maire had withdrawn that agreement and instead proposed a 50-50 share with the Italians, an offer that expired on Thursday, prompting nationalisation.

Le Maire said he wanted to ensure that skills and jobs remained in France, and said negotiations would continue with the Italians. He added that he still remained committed to freeing up and transforming the French economy, and to the greater European industrial project, despite the nationalisation.

The shipyard, located on the mouth of the Loire river, near Nantes on the Atlantic coast, is the only one big enough in France to build aircraft carriers and other large warships. It also built the world’s biggest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.

French politicians and unions have raised concerns over 7,000 jobs that depend on St-Nazaire, including 2,500 directly employed staff, suggesting Italy would protect its own workers should shipbuilding decline. Paris is also concerned about a site of such strategic and defence importance coming under the control of Italy’s state-owned Fincantieri.

Although Macron has sought to liberalise swaths of the economy, he also has been involved in the French state’s tradition of intervention in business: as a former economy minister he forced through a shareholder vote to allow more state control of Renault.

The industrial dispute follows a separate diplomatic row between France and Italy over Macron’s attempts to broker a peace deal in Libya, as well as the handling of the numbers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Macron’s approval ratings in France have plunged as he starts to enact parts of a manifesto that promised tax and benefit cuts.