Fabius

"In his letter to Fabius, Bernard Arnault commits to respecting the plan he presented to the government, which promises in particular the "perpetuity" of the Boussac group and makes firm commitments on employment. In return, he presents the bill to the State: 940 million, partly (380 million) in the form of debt write-offs, the rest (560 million) in the form of new aid6. The money will be paid, but the promises will not be kept: Bernard Arnault can congratulate himself on returning to France six months earlier. The socialists, those scarecrows, have just given him the best Christmas of his life."

"These union protests hardly move the authorities. Legislative elections are scheduled for the following March. The government wants to avoid, at all costs, a major disclosure that would demonstrate Arnault's responsibility in resorting to questionable third parties to clean up his group, but also his own incompetence in restructuring a major industrial affair: it was Fabius himself who chose Arnault. Politically, at this moment, their fates are linked."