British (and increasingly the rest of the world) see French as arrogant and always complaining – add “lazy” and you’ve the big picture.

The latest wave of opposition to Pepsico rumoured takeover of Danone is not going to help… Are French people born to say just “Non!”?

How typical and arrogant of France’s “old guard” (politicians and unionists). So, it’s Ok for France’s Vivendi to buy Universal, an emblematic US company but it’s an outrage for Pepsico to (maybe) raid Danone, a company which is to France “more than a floret” (according to a government member).

I wonder if foreign investors and companies will still be interested in investing in France in the long run – is the Olympic Committee’s decision the first major example of that glooming future?



A bit more if you can read French:

Danone "est plus qu'un fleuron", c'est "une entreprise particulière car elle procède de l'équilibre de notre production agricole, c'est aussi un facteur structurant des PME françaises et européennes qui travaillent pour Danone. C'est une entreprise très importante pour l'équilibre de notre pays sur l'emploi, sur l'aménagement du territoire, sur la santé et sur l'art de vivre", a souligné M. Borloo.

Isn’t that true of all companies of the CAC40 (apart from the agriculture bit)?