The European Commission decided on Tuesday 16 March to launch an investigation into possible abusive behaviour by the Public Power Corporation (‘PPC’) in the wholesale electricity supply sector in Greece.
According to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President responsible for competition policy, PPC’s behaviour on the wholesale electricity markets in Greece “may have distorted competition and slowed down investment in greener energy production”. Greece has recently embarked on an ambitious plan to phase out lignite, the Vice-President noted.
Majority owned by the Greek state, PPC is the largest retail and wholesale electricity supplier in Greece.
The Commission is concerned that the publicly controlled company may have restricted competition in the relevant markets through its conduct in the tender procedures. “The company may have engaged in predatory bidding strategies that impede its competitors’ ability to compete in the wholesale electricity markets and related markets”, the Commission said in a statement.
This behaviour, if proven, constitutes predatory conduct in violation of EU competition rules, including those on abuse of dominance.
However, this investigation is unrelated to case AT.39700 concerning the privileged access rights to lignite granted by the Greek State to the public company PPC. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)