French politicians put markets on protectionism alert over the past year with talk of “economic patriotism” but forced retreats in gas, steel and aviation have shown how little they can do to halt mergers and guide managers.

Repeated declarations by top politicians of the importance of economic patriotism – generally taken to mean a policy of shielding key industrial icons from foreign takeover – raised the hackles of competition authorities earlier this year. They also fed into an outbreak of protectionist and anti-market rhetoric in a country with a traditionally sceptical attitude to liberal free market policies.

EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, the bloc’s top financial official, even accused Paris this year of going back to the Maginot Line, the useless defensive network that was swiftly overcome by the invading German army in 1940.

But markets, which were taken aback by talk suggesting it would be up to governments rather than shareholders to decide takeover battles, have looked on as the main planks of the policy in the energy and steel sectors have sagged or collapsed.

European steel group Arcelor which employs thousands of workers in France, is set to fall into foreign hands, while plans to merge Gaz de France and utilities group Suez have been delayed.

With President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin slumping in the opinion polls ahead of next year’s elections, the government may be accepting it is too weak.

Certainly the events of the past weeks have done little to suggest that government declarations alone can do much to influence market outcomes.

Plans to merge gas distributor Gaz de France with utilities group Suez, a deal hatched to ward off a possible takeover bid for Suez from Italy’s Enel, have been delayed until September and may be abandoned in the face of opposition even from politicians in Chirac’s own party.