Question 32126 — defense

Summary

Mr. Jean-Luc Mélenchon alerts the Minister of the Armed Forces about the future of the Aubert & Duval company. The Aubert & Duval company is one of the leaders in the world for complex metal alloys. Its products are used in particular for the manufacture of turbines. Aubert & Duval is an essential supplier to the French army. Nuclear submarines, Rafales combat planes and certain missiles use its products. 3,500 employees on seven sites in France work on this cutting-edge technology. Currently, Aubert & Duval is a subsidiary of the French group Eramet, in which the State is a 25% shareholder. However, Eramet announced at the end of June 2020 its intention to sell its subsidiary. It has indeed suffered significant losses in recent months and would need new capitalization. “All options are on the table” announced the management of Eramet, including that of selling this French technological flagship to a foreign company. A German company, an Austrian company and two Americans are in the running. Accepting the absorption of such a crucial undertaking for French defense would be an unacceptable abandonment of sovereignty. France cannot depend on anyone other than itself to operate its nuclear submarines, which are at the heart of its national territory defense doctrine, deterrence. There are solutions to keep Aubert & Duval under the French flag. In July 2020, an investment fund financed by the State, Airbus, Thales, Safran and Dassault was created. It must come to the aid of aeronautics subcontractors. Why not mobilize it? The MP therefore asks him to please detail the way in which the Ministry of armies follows this key issue for French sovereignty and the actions it intends to take to maintain French control of the Aubert & Duval company. He also recalls that since 2014, under a decree "relating to foreign investments subject to prior authorization", the French State can oppose the takeover by foreign capital of strategic French companies. Therefore, he would like know if the Government is ready to use this decree if necessary in the case of Aubert & Duval.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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