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Prodi calls for 'balanced market rules' in energy row
AFP
PARIS
Petroleumworld.com 06 14 06Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said during talks in Paris Tuesday that market rules should be applied fairly across Europe, in reference to the controversy over a planned acquisition of state-controlled Gaz de France by energy group Suez.
"I simply stressed my wish for strong cooperation between Italy and France and the need for balanced, symmetrical and open market rules," Prodi told a press conference after meeting French President Jacques Chirac.
In February the government in Paris announced a planned merger of the two French companies in what appeared to be a bid to head off predatory ambitions on Suez from the Italian electricity company Enel.
In a side-swipe at French "economic patriotism", Prodi noted that the French-owned EDF has 20 percent of the Italian market in electricity, while the French BNP bank has merged with the Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.
Air France-KLM and supermarkets Auchan and Carrefour have also made inroads into Italy, he said.
"I underlined the need for the same openness in France, with full respect for French rules and all the friendship which we must have between the two countries," Prodi said.
AFP 13 1955 GMT 06 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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