Brussels, 12/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner responsible for competition, Mario Monti made the following statement on the Secil/Helderbank/Cimpor case: "On 4th July 2000, the companies Secil and Holderbank notified to the Commission a bid to acquire the Portuguese cement group Cimpor. This is an operation of Community dimension and, therefore, the European Commission has exclusive competence to assess its effects on competition. This also implies that, in case a Member State would like to block the operation on other grounds, it could only do so if the Commission recognises that such a decision is compatible with Community law. I am concerned, therefore, by the decision taken by the Portuguese authorities on 5 July to block the bid. The Portuguese authorities did not inform the Commission in advance of their intent to block the operations and of the interests they sought to protect through this measure, as is established by the Community's rules on merger control. I understand the parties have now modified their offer for Cimpor and renewed their application for authorisation by the government. I have spoken to Portuguese Finance Minister Pina Moura and explained the consequences that could ensue if the Portuguese authorities maintain their stance. I am confident that, in the case that the Portuguese authorities should intend to take further measure against this operation, they will follow the procedures set down in the Community's Merger Regulation and respect the assessment of these measures by the Commission.
This position is without prejudice to the proceedings launched by the Commission against Portuguese restrictions on foreign investments, including the rules that oblige any investor in a company being privatised to obtain an authorisation if he wants to buy more than 10% of the voting capital of the company. the Commission considers that these provisions violate the Treaty rules on free movement of capital and referred the matter to the European Court of Justice in December 1997".