Brussels, 02/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 2 July, the European Commission gave conditional authorisation to the acquisition of Italian aeronautics manufacturer Avio SpA by its US competitor General Electric Company (GE). The Commission accepted a raft of commitments from GE to protect the competitive position of the Eurojet consortium, of which Avio is a member. Eurojet manufactures Typhoon fighter plane engines for the European consortium Eurofighter, a direct competitor of GE's aircraft engine wing. The Commission feared that the transaction, as originally notified, would have enabled GE to obtain significant influence in the Eurojet consortium and access strategic information of its competitors. The binding commitments submitted by GE adequately address these concerns by ensuring proper protection of Eurojet strategic information and allowing Eurojet and Eurofighter to continue to take part in future export sales drives. Avio will continue to fulfil its share of the consortium's production based on Italy's contribution to this important European military programme so the Commission decided that the deal, notified on 13 May, would not raise any competition concerns. (FG/transl.fl)