London Briefing: How many national airlines own beaches dedicated to the exclusive use of their employees?, asks Chris Johns.

The answer is at least one, and I suspect there may be more. Recently, while minding my own business on a beach in the south of France I was approached by a personable young man who asked me if I worked for Air France.

When I replied in the negative, he pointed out that the stretch of coastline currently occupied by me and my family was, in fact, for the exclusive use of Air France employees. Not only the beach, as it happens, since there was also a sailing centre, replete with small boats and windsurfers, and a free restaurant. How I wished I did work for the French airline.

After being asked to leave the beach there then ensued one of those moments in Anglo-French relations that made me feel sympathetic towards the trials and tribulations of Tony Blair in his dealings with Jacques Chirac.

The French really do things differently. It was only 20 years ago that this fundamentally socialist country nationalised its banking system. And yet they allow private ownership of beaches.

Such a thing is beyond the comprehension of your average British holidaymaker, who sees sand as something inherently beyond the pale of private enterprise. Health care and beaches are not to be subject to market forces.

Of course, Air France is not really subject to market forces either, which explains why so many of its workers are often to be found on the Med rather than in airports.

The relationship between the British and the French is complex and rooted in centuries of history. It is commonly supposed that hostility is the defining characteristic of that relationship. When asked their nationality in France, my family expect me to stay silent while they proclaim their Irishness. It seems to help. But there are so many British people living in southern France that there is now an English language radio station. Relations can't be that bad.

But the gap between the British and French attitudes to business does seem to be as wide as ever. It was fascinating to listen to two versions of the industrial dispute that has been closing many of France's cultural festivals this year.

The English language radio station DJs were clearly puzzled to the point of incredulity by it all. For the French it was clearly normal and sympathies always lie with strikers, no matter what inconvenience they cause.

What were the strikes about? Performers and technicians in the entertainment industry currently qualify for a full year of generous unemployment benefits if they work a minimum of 14 ½ weeks (assuming adherence to France's maximum 35-hour week).

Even the French government has grown weary of handing over state benefits to a large bunch of people who work only three months of the year.

The famous Avignon and Aix-en-Provence festivals have been cancelled by the activities of those who object to the relatively minor changes to the rules being proposed by the government.

Property prices in one or two parts of France are boosted by planning regulations that would scare your average British or Irish local politician to death. On the Saint Tropez peninsula they have adopted the simple rule of banning all development. You are simply not allowed to put one brick on top of another. Even the erection of a garden fence is forbidden.

Not much chance of a corruption of the planning system there.

Beyond the obvious attractions of climate and countryside there is a simple economic reason why so many British people have settled in France. Even in the expensive Cote d'Azur it is much cheaper to live than in the UK. Much is currently being made of the consumer rip-off in Ireland, but it is the same in Britain. UK shoppers are amazed by the prices of everything (not just the booze) in French supermarkets.

There is as much hot air surrounding the debate in Britain as there is in Ireland. Only one thing and one thing alone can cause excessive profit margins to exist and persist: lack of competition. Clearly, despite the nonsense spouted by governments and supermarkets, there isn't much competition in these islands. Regulation plays an obvious role. Governments are colluding with the retailers in boosting profit margins. I cannot for the life of me figure out why.

Here again there is a paradox: if popular myth is anything to go by, surely we would expect Britain rather than France to favour market forces and the lower profits for business that go with them? Things are rarely as they seem.

Does Aer Lingus own a beach? I think we need to be told.