Brussels, 19/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The investigation into Gazprom has no “political dimension”, said Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday 18 February. She went on to say that it was also not a case of 'political timing': “because I think if you see it as a political case, then any timing will be bad; if you see it as a political case then you will get all kinds of awkward advice”.
She explained that it is a case which has to do with competition and which may one day even end up before the courts. “I think that it is very important to keep in mind that whatever interpretation, the casework that we do here has to be able to stand up in court”, she said. When asked about her intention to close the dossier without taking any political consideration into account, she explained first of all that rival companies may find it strange if the Commission did not pursue the case to the end. From her experience in politics, she now knows that “you cannot necessarily make friends with everyone, but you can at least make sure that people think they are treated fairly”. As for this dossier, “I think we can move the case forward in a hopefully relatively short time-span”, she explained. (Élodie Lamer)