Brussels, 20/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 July, the European Commission gave its conditional authorisation to the acquisition of Arianespace by Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL).
Arianespace is the world's leader on the market for launch services of commercial geostationery transfer satellites. It has a monopoly situation on the European market for institutional launches. For its services, it uses launchers produced by three different companies, including the Ariane launcher, which is manufactured by ASL. ASL is a 50/50 joint venture controlled by Airbus and Safran. Airbus is also one of the largest producers of satellites in the world.
The Commission's investigation confirmed its initial fears that considerable flows of sensitive information could circulate between the businesses to hinder competition, in particular flows of information from Arianespace to Airbus about other satellite manufacturers and flows of information in the other direction, regarding other launch services providers. In order to respond to the Commission's concerns, the companies undertook not to exchange information regarding third parties, with the exception of what is normally required for their current activities. This sets in place measures to limit the mobility of workers between the companies and to set in place an arbitration mechanism to be included in all future non-disclosure agreements signed with third parties, to ensure an effective implementation of firewalls. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)