The recently elected French government intends to break Gaz de France’s (GdF) deadlock on the French natural gas market by fully adopting the 1998 European gas directive. These political developments will force the incumbent gas giant to take its privatisation further and will lead to loss of market share in the firm’s home territory. But at the same time, as the French market opens up to competition, GdF may find other European markets more willing to allow the company into their territory