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FRANCE

Germany to buy Daimler’s EADS shares

Carmaker Daimler is to transfer a 7.5-percent stake in European aerospace and defence giant EADS to Germany's state-owned bank KfW, the Economy Ministry announced on Thursday.

Germany to buy Daimler's EADS shares
Photo: DPA

“In order to preserve the the French-German balance (in EADS) while no private investors have been found to secure German interests, KfW will temporarily take over” a stake of 7.5 percent being put up for sale by Daimler, the ministry said in a statement.

“The details have yet to be worked out but the government is working from the assumption that the deal will be carried out next year,” the ministry said.

But it insisted that “the door remains open for potential private investors.”

Daimler currently holds a stake of 15 percent and 22 percent of the voting rights in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and is looking to sell initially half of that stake.

The German government had hoped to find a private buyer for the shares – whose current market value stands at €1.2 billion to €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion to $1.8 billion) – but was forced to step into the breach after no-one came forward.

AFP/mry

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POLITICS

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

France has vowed to prevent a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc from being signed with its current terms, as the country is rocked by farmer protests.

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

The trade deal, which would include agricultural powers Argentina and Brazil, is among a litany of complaints by farmers in France and elsewhere in Europe who have been blocking roads to demand better conditions for their sector.

They fear it would further depress their produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

READ ALSO Should I cancel my trip to France because of farmers’ protests?

“This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told broadcasters CNews and Europe 1.

The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the conditions to conclude the deal with Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, “are not quite there yet”.

The talks, however, are continuing, the commission said.

READ ALSO 5 minutes to understand French farmer protests

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France opposes the deal because it “doesn’t make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours”.

The EU and the South American nations have been negotiating since 2000.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, but a final version still needs to be ratified.

The accord aims to cut import tariffs on – mostly European – industrial and pharmaceutical goods, and on agricultural products.

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