In the wake of 2020's Great Coronavirus Global Shutdown, European countries long since affected by the loss of the commanding heights of industry--coal, oil, steel, and so forth--see a further looming Chinese threat. With Western markets slumping, any number of European companies may be purchased at bargain bin--if not fire sale--prices. Hence European authorities want to prevent the Chinese swooping in to buy these virus-cheapened firms:
The EU plans to help block foreign takeovers of European companies struggling with the virus downturn. It wants to allow governments to invest in weak companies, which could include some form of ownership. While it called them "measures of last resort", the European Commission says it is consulting member states. A focus for the regulator is to counter unfair competition from state-owned firms, which are the backbone of economies such as China's.The justification you could have seen from a mile away: national security [duh]:
It is now looking at further protection for businesses based in the EU, in light of the significant financial impact coronavirus lockdowns are having on them. "This in principle falls outside the scope of EU state aid control and can in particular be important for interventions by member states to prevent hostile takeovers of strategic companies by foreign purchasers," a spokesman for the European Commission said.
"As in any crisis, the industrial and corporate assets are under stress. The resilience of our industries, their capacity to continue to respond to the needs of EU citizens and the preservation of strategic assets and technology, is key," the spokesman added. The EU is worried that foreign investors may try to acquire European companies "in order to take control of key technologies, infrastructure or expertise". It says this "raises concerns as regards security".How utterly predictable. In fact, you probably guessed this post's contents just by seeing its title--which is as hoped. CoronaProtectionism it is.
