NICE, France (Reuters) - France and Italy aim to sign an energy cooperation deal at a summit meeting on Friday that should ease some of the bitterness caused by wrangling over French utility Suez last year.
The deal with French electricity operator EDF, flagged well ahead of the meeting in the southern French city of Nice is expected to see Italy's Enel take stakes in six new-generation nuclear plans in France.
By James Mackenzie
NICE, France (Reuters) - France and Italy aim to sign an energy cooperation deal at a summit meeting on Friday that should ease some of the bitterness caused by wrangling over French utility Suez last year.
The deal with French electricity operator EDF, flagged well ahead of the meeting in the southern French city of Nice is expected to see Italy's Enel take stakes in six new-generation nuclear plans in France.
The long-awaited deal is expected to see Enel buy stakes in French power generation assets worth some 2 billion euros ($2.95 billion), giving it up to 3 percent of the French power market.
!ADVERTISEMENT!The assets would include a 12.5-percent stake in six new-generation nuclear power stations in France -- including one at Flamanville in Normandy where that size stake is worth about 370 million euros.
According to the Financial Times, the assets would also include holdings of 40-49 percent in gas-fired power stations. EDF would get access to Enel nuclear, coal and gas-generation assets in Slovakia, Bulgaria and Russia, the paper said.
A deal would soothe some of the considerable ill-feeling caused last year when the French government's desire to create a national energy champion by merging gas operator GDF with utility Suez, thwarted a tentative bid by Enel.
"The merger was decided to block Enel, which wanted to join up with Suez," Prodi told French daily le Figaro in an interview published in Friday's edition.
"I felt a great deal of bitterness. But we have to look to the future. The Nice accord sends a very positive message."
The deal would be the main feature of a wider agreement on energy policy and Italian power grid Terna and its French counterpart could also reach an agreement on transmission capacity, diplomats have said.
Contrasting remarks from the two leaders on the European Central Bank, could also have an impact at the meeting, which kicked off with a military salute in the picturesque main square of Nice's old town.
In an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, Sarkozy repeated his longstanding line that governments should be free to comment on ECB decisions and had a role to play in foreign exchange policy.
Prodi told Le Figaro that any tensions between governments and the fiercely independent central bank should be avoided.
With the tense situation in France's volatile, multi-ethnic suburbs highlighted by a renewed outbreak of urban violence this week, immigration policy will also feature heavily.
Italy's proximity to the African mainland has made it one of the main entry points into Europe for clandestine immigration and Sarkozy told the Corriere della Sera that he hoped the meeting would foster a joint approach to immigration.
(Editing by Jon Boyle and Sue Thomas)
