LAST YEAR, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION approved the €4.8 billion acquisition of the digital security company Gemalto, which is responsible for manufacturing Finnish passports and IDs, by French aerospace and defense group Thales. 

Over the past two decades, Thales has repeatedly caught media attention for its purported illicit activities, including bribes to build warships for the Taiwanese government and collusion with former South African president Jacob Zuma over a multibillion-dollar arms deal.