French leader 'asked secret service for list of firms at risk of takeover'
Times 04/03/06

"THE French secret service is reported to have drawn up a confidential list of French companies that could be vulnerable to hostile bids by foreign investors..."

"...M de Villepin is believed to have ordered French intelligence agencies to provide him with information to sustain his campaign for “economic patriotism”, which has been criticised as covert protectionism. He is seeking to defend France’s biggest and most emblematic companies against foreign takeover..."

"...Alain Juillet, the former French spy chief appointed as head of the Government’s Economic Intelligence unit, denied any knowledge of the list..."


Spies on a mission to spot the signs of a hostile bid
Times 04/03/06

"OVER the past three years, the French authorities have given the country’s intelligence agencies a new mission — to protect Gallic firms.

The so-called economic war is now a central theme for French spies, who have been told to combine financial intelligence with their traditional battle against terrorism, rogue states and revolutionaries.

The man overseeing these moves is Alain Juillet, a former member of the Direction Générale de la Securité Extérieure (DGSE), the French equivalent of MI6.

In 2003, he was appointed to the newly created post of Head of Economic Intelligence in France..."

"...The French Government’s aim is to cast the economic intelligence net beyond its old limit in the struggle against industrial espionage.

The Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST), the equivalent of MI5, for example, has trained agents to detect early signs of a hostile takeover bid for a French company.

The third French spy agency, les Renseignements Généraux (RG), whose main task is to keep an eye on subversive movements, has also begun to tackle economic intelligence.

About 100 of its spies are dedicated to providing help for small and medium-sized companies..."