Brussels, 21/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will be taking a close look at the arguments put forward by Schneider and will defend itself forcefully, it was announced on Tuesday by Spokesperson Amelia Tores. Last week, the Schneider group had initiated action for damages at the European Court of Justice, considering it had been injured by the Commission's decision not to authorise its merger with the Legrand group, in the electrical equipment sector. Ms Torres specified that the Commission's obligation as regards circumspection for matters brought before the Court prohibited all comment, stressing that the Commission had taken the decision at the time "in good faith".
We recall that Schneider had acquired nearly all the shares of Legrand without waiting for the Commission's decision and had been forced to sell them again at a far less advantageous price, as European authorisation could not be obtained in October 2001. One year later, the Court of First Instance cancelled the Commission's negative decision, considering that there had been a number of failings in its economic analysis.