Brussels, 18/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of Unison Industries by GE Engine Services. (GEES), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US General Electric Company. The transaction was originally notified to several EU member states (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Greece), as it did not meet the turnover threshold requirements of the EU's Merger Regulation. These member states decided jointly to refer the case to the Commission on the basis of Article 22 of the regulation. The case was also notified in Portugal and Ireland, which granted regulatory clearance. This was only the second joint referral of a merger to the Commission by Member States in the almost 11 years that the Merger Regulation has been in place. The first such case was the Promatech/Sulzer (see EUROPE yesterday page 13). The Commission examination revealed that there was not serious danger to competition in any part of the market in EU territory.