GDF-Suez
deal breaches spirit of EU policy: commissioner
AFP
MILAN
Petroleumworld.com
02 27 06
The planned deal between Gaz de France and Suez appears to be
within EU competition rules but runs counter to the European Union
objective of creating European champions, EU Transport Commissioner
Jacques Barrot said on Monday.
Barrot told the newspaper Corriere della Sera: "France seems
to have given privilege to a national formula. It is a legitimate
choice and from a legal point of view the merger of Gaz de France
and Suez seems to respect the rules."
But Barrot, a Frenchman, also said: "But in effect there
is a contradiction in terms of strategic plans. In the energy
sector we say that there must be more European integration and
then the French government puts the emphasis on the logic of national
champions."
However, he also said that he was surprised by the attitude of
Italian electricity group Enel.
"A different approach, open, with more dialogue, might have
helped an alliance with Suez," he said.
In the context of a European objective for greater integration
of energy groups, "an alliance between Suez-Enel could have
been reached in a tranquil way. It would have amounted to an important
signal," he said.
Barrot added that the EU would have difficulty in intervening
in the tie-up between GDF and Suez because it amounted to a market
operation involving private companies.
The French government, which controls 80.4 percent of GDF, announced
at the weekend and on Monday that GDF would in effect take over
Suez to protect it against Enel.
The state's holding in GDF may not fall below 70.0 percent unless
the law is changed. But the French government has said that the
state will end up with about 40.0 percent of the new French energy
giant and that no other shareholder would hold more than 10.0
percent.
AFP
02 27 06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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