Brussels, 02/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised BP to acquire all the capital of the German company for petroleum and petrochemical products, Veba Oel, held at 51% by BP since 2001 and 49% by the German energy group E.ON. Originally, E.ON held 100% of Veba Oel capital. Then, BP acquired 51% of the company, a move that had been authorised by the Commission subject to commitments on the part of BP (see EUROPE of 28 December, p.9). The Commission examined whether the acquisition by BP of full control of Veba Oel entailed problems but felt that this acquisition would not change the competitive situation on the petrochemical market given that BP had already joint control of the joint venture and that the latter was already no longer an independent BP competitor. The Commission therefore cleared the operation subject to respect by BP of the commitments proposed during the sharing of Veba Oel control in December.