Brussels, 07/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 6 February, Poland filed a complaint with the Court of First Instance of the EU against the Commission's decision of October 2005 to authorise the merger between the Italian bank, UniCredito, and the German bank, Hypo Vereinsbank (HVB). When asked about the matter, the spokesman for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes affirmed that the complaint would not delay merger procedure, saying: “Appeal at the Court of First Instance does not have suspensive effect”. The Commission's decision must therefore be respected until the Court of First Instance has decided to the contrary. “The Commission has no reason to believe that its decision is unfounded”, the spokesman said, pointing out that the Commission had, at the time, consulted the Polish competition authorities, and that the Polish government could have put its point of view forward, but “did not do so”.
The Commission services are in the process of analysing the response from the Polish government further to the two letters sent by the directorates general for competition and the internal market. The spokesman for Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, confirmed on Tuesday that the Commission had, just the evening before, received Poland's response to the letter in which Mr McCreevy expressed concern about compliance with the free movement of capital in this affair (see EUROPE 9115). The spokesman did not wish to set a date for the Commission's reaction.
Rapprochement between UniCredito and HVB involves merger between BPH, a Polish bank affiliated to HVB, and Pekao, the Polish subsidiary of UniCredito. The Polish Ministry of Finance filed the complaint because it considers the Commission incorrectly defined certain segments of the banking market, and the effect that the merger would have on free competition in Poland.