Brussels, 05/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 5 December 2008, the European Commission invited comments from interested parties on the commitments offered by German gas supplier RWE. RWE has come forward with several proposals to convince the European Commission that it is not abusing its dominant position on the German gas market. The deadline for comment sis 5 January 2009.
The initial results of the European Commission's investigation gave the Commission reason to fear that RWE may have abused its dominant position, notably by way of a refusal to supply gas transmission services to third parties and by trying to lower its downstream gas supply competitors' profit markets. Responding to these concerns, RWE offered to divest its German high-pressure gas transmission network, of a total length of around 4,000 km, including assets, staff and ancillary services. If the outcome of the consultation exercise confirms the Commission's fears, it will adopt a decision to make RWE's commitments legally binding, in which case any failure by the company to meet its commitments would lead to automatic penalties. Interested parties are invited to send their comment, quoting reference COMP/B-1/39.402 - RWE, to comp-greffe-antitrust@ec.europa.eu, or fax them to +32 (2) 295 01 28, or send them by post to The European Commission, DG Competition, Greffe des Ententes, B-1049 Brussels. (C.D. trans fl)