Brussels – After two days of consultations aimed at calming Europe's divisions over protectionism, European leaders have ended up more divided than ever, with some warning the issue could harm the stability of the European Union. European financial and industrial ministers wrangled here over whether to block cross-border mergers, whether to allow a single continentwide energy regulator and whether to do more to block rising imports of shoes from China. Rather than reaffirming their belief in constructing a giant 25-nation powerhouse able to compete on a global scale, however, countries' individual interests in so-called economic patriotism, as France has dubbed it, triumphed for the moment. "It's difficult to have a common currency" in such circumstances, warned Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, after he failed to win any change in France's plans to merge state-run utilities Gaz de France SA and Suez SA, which would freeze out Italy's Enel SpA from buying in. "This is a turning point for Europe. We are not talking about company takeovers but the future of Europe."
German President Horst Köhler warned the European Parliament in Strasbourg that "those who weaken the European internal market through protectionism do themselves a disservice."
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