Luxembourg, 27/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The ruling in the highly political cases concerning "golden shares" will be rendered on 4 June. The Court of Justice is expected to say whether the Portuguese, French and Belgian legislation, which gives the State specific powers and capacity to act in the management of privatised companies in so-called strategic sectors (i.e. energy) are contrary to European law, or not.
Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer said, in July 2001, that the legislation was not in itself counter to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty, even if in its practical application it could be so. The European Commission felt, on the other hand, that such legislation comprised real restrictions to the free movement of capital and to the freedom of establishment.
In Portugal, a decree-law of 1993 makes any acquisition of shares in companies undergoing privatisation beyond a certain ceiling subject to approval from the Ministry of Finance. In France, the decrees of 1993 concerning Elf Aquitaine give the State powers of intervention in the management of the company and allow it to oppose sales of assets likely to harm national interests. In Belgium, royal decrees of 1994 and 1995 authorise the energy ministers to oppose any transaction relating to the assets of SNTC and Distrigaz, when such transactions are likely to be detrimental to national interests.
The Court will have taken what is considered an abnormally long time to give these rulings, in this instance initiated in 1998 for Portugal and the following year for France and Belgium (Ed. This kind of case normally lasts 24 months). Once given, the rulings will be decisive in conditioning two other similar cases, the Advocate General explained. One case introduced in 2000 is against Spain and the other against the United Kingdom, initiated in 2001. In the first, the European Commission challenges the Spanish law of 1995 and its application decrees, which give special authority to the State in the companies Repsol, Telefonica de España, Tabacalera and Endesa. In the second, it challenges the prerogatives of the British companies within BAA, the United Kingdom's former public airport management company.