Brussels, 23/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 23 October, the Commission confirmed that it had recently sent a letter to the German authorities asking for information on the use of their golden share in the energy company E.ON when it acquired Ruhrgas AG in 2002 (see EUROPE 8405). “We have asked the German government to set out the conditions of the purchase of Ruhrgas in 2002. In particular, we would like to know if a golden share was granted,” the spokesman for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said, stating that, at the moment, there was no question of beginning infringement proceedings. The letter did not give a deadline fort the submission of information by the German authorities.
When asked about the Commission's desire to make the acquisition of the Spanish firm Endesa by E.ON more acceptable, Mr McCreevy's spokesman said that the two cases were not linked. He said that European Union Court of Justice case law was generally opposed to golden shares. In some instances, such as the “Distrigaz case”, he added, the Court set out the conditions which allowed the use of such shares when their use was linked to the protection of general interest. (mb)