Brussels, 06/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - A European Commission spokesperson for competition pointed out on Monday (EUROPE 3 December p 15) that the Commission is still opposed to a recapitalisation of the German regional parliaments until the end of the unlimited public guarantee period for their debts (July 2005). Divergences between Brussels and Berlin on this subject still stand, as well as those on investments to the recapitalisation operation. Neelie Kroes said that the operation had to remain open to private operators, whereas the German Secretary of State for Finance, Caio Koch-Weser, quoted by the Financial Times Deutschland¸ said that he did not see any reason for this. the newspaper also announced a meeting between the Commissioner and German Secretary of State on 16 December, but Kroes' spokesperson indicated that nothing had been planned in this respect yet.
Although no specific case was mentioned in the letter from Kroes to Koch-Weser, West LB, one of the main regional public banks (which it alone had been sentenced to reimburse EUR 979 million plus interest) denounced these "additional new Commission conditions" on Friday. In a press statement, members of its Surveillance Council described these conditions as "illegal" and "without any link with the result of the negotiations in the past."