Brussels, 11/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 11 March, the European Commission confirmed that Commission officials had, the previous day, carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of the electricity company EDF in France. The Commission had reason to believe that EDF may have violated EC Treaty antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position, the spokesman for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told press. “The Commission suspects EDF of being the possible instigator of an artificial rise in prices on the wholesale electricity market in France,” he said. During the inspections, the Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the French competition authority. The Commission says in a press release that surprise inspections are a preliminary step in investigations into suspected anti-competitive practices, but that this does not mean that the companies involved are guilty of such behaviour. (O.L./transl.rt)