Brussels, 22/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 July, the European Commission granted clearance to the planned joint venture for the provision of international rail passenger transport services between the Italian incumbent rail operator Trenitalia, part of the Ferrovie dello Stato group, and the private French rail and bus operator Veolia Transport. The joint venture will provide international passenger transport services and apply for passenger rail franchises and contracts in the United Kingdom. The Commission concluded that the transaction, notified on 16 June, would not raise competition concerns, in particular because Veolia Transport is a newcomer to the markets concerned. The Commission checked whether competitors would continue to have access to rail infrastructure and traction services controlled indirectly by Ferrovie dello Stato on the Paris-Rome, Paris-Venice and Paris-Milan routes and concluded that this would still be the case, and it was likely that SNCF of France would run a high-speed rail service on the Paris-Milan route in competition with the Trenitalia/Veolia high speed line. (F.G./transl.fl)