Brussels, 13/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised the German Deutsche Bahn railway company, the Rotterdam based Europe Combined Terminals (ECT) and United Depots from Hamburg to create a joint venture that will manage the two neighbouring port terminals in Duisbourg, west Germany. These terminals trans-ship containers between inland waterways, the sea and road. Current terminal operators are DeCeTe Duisburger Container-Terminalgellschaft mbH and ECT Duisburg Terminal GmbH. DeCeTe is currently jointly managed by DB Cargo (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn) and United Depots, whereas ECT is only a minority shareholder. Under an agreement notified to the Commission on 8 January, DB will sell part of its shareholdings in DeCeTe to ECT, as a result of which DeCeTe will be jointly controlled by the three companies. In addition, ECT Duisburg, a 100% subsidiary of ECT, will lease the operation of its container terminal to DeCeTe. Deutsche Bahn, ECT and United Depots will, therefore, obtain joint control of ECT Duisburg through DeCeTe. The Commission has examined the operation, which will have an impact on the container transport market between the so-called ARA ports (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp) and the Ruhr region, as well as on trans-ship container services. Commission investigations have established that combining the capacities of the two Duisburg terminals will not prevent effective competition as there is another terminal in Duisburg, the "Rhein-Ruhr-Terminal" and another terminal, the "Duisburger Intermodales Terminal, will soon be enlarged. Neighbouring terminals also have free capacity and can thus provide further competition.