Thirteen leading European firms have urged the European Union to impose sanctions on Hungary for anti-competitive measures, German newspaper Die Welt reported Sunday.
In a five-page letter sent on December 15 to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the heads of the companies accused Hungary, which on January 1 took over the EU's rotating presidency, of imposing exceptional taxes on them, the newspaper's website reported.
Among the companies who sent the letter were energy groups including Germany's RWE and E.on, Czech firm CEZ and Austria's OMV, as well as Dutch financial groups ING and Aegon, French insurance giant AXA and Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
The letter reportedly urged the European Commission to put pressure on the Hungarian government to make it abandon its decision to impose "unjust financial millstones" which, the newspaper reported, cost Deutsche Telekom for example about 100 million euros (134 million dollars) in extra taxes last year at its Hungarian subsidiary Magyar Telekom.