With the world shrinking and all, I have made it a policy of keeping an eye on what goes on in Europe. Some of if is fascinating. New technologies are being unfurled from the dry plains of Spain - solar - to the rough headlands of Hamburg - wind.

But it is amusing to watch the Old Continent struggle to promote competition and open markets in the face of a creaky, state-owned bureaucracy in La France. About 18 months ago I stepped out of a rainy Parisian day into a coffee shop for a chat with one of the top state utility regulators. After spouting the usual line about needing competition I observed how is it possible for him to regulate an entity, EdF, that is predominantly French owned? And why would the state force another arm of the state to compete openly when it can only hurt in the long term? His answer, in lovely French accented English, was "Some questions are best not asked."

That all came back to me this morning, with the front page WSJ news that Electricite de France, EdF, is at the head of a $100 billion deal to snap up assets in Spain. EdF and a Spanish construction company would bid for Iberdrola and Union Fenosa. Obvously, national politics and ego will no doubt become huge factors as they do in most European utility deals.

So the French utility arm gets bigger and bigger in Europe while bureaucrats in Brussels posture about open markets. New York state regulators are watching the European corporate tango since Iberdrola wants to buy Energy East in the state.

Will anyone ask the obvious? Are the French prepared to let others - say Exelon or Duke Energy - buy a piece of EdF? Moot point you may say, given the cellar-dwelling status of the dollar. Still, it is the principle that counts.... 

What is the utility equivalent of FREEDOM FRIES?