Foreign ownership is only one aspect of the broader question of the rights of society in relation to individual resource owners and users. It raises the issue of public versus private ownership as a means of management, and confronts our basic assumptions on lifestyle and standard of living.
Foreign ownership troubles those who want a comfortable, assured life, it increases prejudice and fears, it threatens local pride and smooth operation of the economy, disturbs the public order, adversely affects the country's competitors, and may impair the safety of the general public.
It is easier for a French car-maker to close a factory in Belgium as part of a cost-cutting drive than it would have been to shut down an operation in France.