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The French privatization policies in both industrial and financial sectors have led to a radical modification of the big companies? ownership. They now widely belong to foreign investors. Consequently, the ?shareholders? logic grows on firms, bringing about pursuit of stock market value maximization and respect of the principles of governance, in order to insure the investors? control over corporate executives. In this context the possibility of taking measures against takeover bids is very weak for a government. The most effective means of pushing economic and financial actors into respecting national imperatives, especially in terms of employment, are to limit the international capital circulation and to reinforce the workers? influence in companies.