Industrial Enterprise and European Integration : From National to International Champions in Western Europe

National champions are firms promoted by governments to defend the national interest in the international market. This book looks at how European national champions have fared under the pressure of European integration and in an increasingly competitive world economy.

For centuries states have attempted to increase their national wealth and power by protecting and promoting certain privileged enterprises. Since the 1960s this phenomena has accelerated with the emergence of ''national champions'' - firms socially selected and promoted by governments to carry the national flag into the internationally competitive arena.This volume focuses on how European national champions have fared in an increasingly globalized industrial context. After setting the four national policy contexts of France, Germany, Britain, and Italy, it considers four major industrial sectors comparatively: electricity, aerospace, air transport, and telecommunications. It goes on to examine the binational collaboration involved in the Channel Tunnel project.It concludes with an assessment of the increasing impact of the European Union on Europe''s national champions as they lose their national identity and monopoly status and become Europeanized, globalized, and hybridized.