The European Commission stepped up its battle to force open Europe's power markets on Thursday by announcing new antitrust proceedings against state-controlled Gaz de France. "The Commission proceedings focus on behaviour which may prevent or reduce competition on supply markets for natural gas in France," the European Union executive said in a statement.
The probe was launched because of information uncovered when EU inspectors raided Gaz de France premises in France in 2006, a Commission spokesman said. It came as Brussels is locked in a battle with France and Germany over its attempt to split vertically integrated utilities into separate energy supply and transmission networks companies to spur competition and bring down prices.
"We found information during the course of our investigations that illustrated that there was deliberate under-investment so there would be no increase in gas imports into France," Jonathan Todd, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, told a news conference.
The Commission said GDF may have blocked competition in downstream supply markets "through, in particular, a combination of long-term reservation of transport capacity and a network of import agreements, as well as through underinvestment in import infrastructure capacity." GDF said in a statement it was "confident of its conduct in this area" and would cooperate fully with the inquiry.
The company noted that no competitor had complained about its conduct and said its long-term import contracts "make it possible to ensure that France enjoys reliable supplies of natural gas".
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