You always knew that even the incorrigibly corporatist European Commission would find it hard to nod through the kinds of sums that Compagnie des Machines Bull SA would be demanding from the French state. Yes indeed: European Commissioner Karel Van Miert wants to start an official inquiry into French government plans to secure what could reach $2,000m in capital injections, Commission officials told Reuter. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Van Miert wanted his colleagues in the European Commission to give him the backing to open the inquiry under competition rules this week. They said the probe would cover plans for an injection of $440m by state-owned France Telecom but could later cover a possible second injection of $1,560m. The officials said European Commission President Jacques Delors was trying to stall the inquiry – Commissioners are meant to leave their national affiliations behind, but France has always regarded the Community as an extension of France, so Jacques Delors sees no distinction between French interests and European interests – but that Van Miert was getting weary of waiting for the restructuring plan he had been promised by French Industry Minister Gerard Longuet. Van Miert had been holding off since April, when the Commission first debated opening an inquiry into the plan for a France Telecom cash injection. Delors was arguing for more time before opening an inquiry partly on the grounds that Bull and the French government were at the delicate stages of finalising a restructuring plan for the firm, the officials said.
