Memo: Antitrust: Commission welcomes E.ON proposals to increase competition in German gas market

The European Commission welcomes remedies offered by the German energy company E.ON in response to concerns expressed by the Commission that certain E.ON practices may constitute a breach of EU rules on abuse of a dominant market position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)). E.ON proposes to commit to a significant, structural reduction of its long-term gas capacity reservations which prevent access of competitors to infrastructure needed to supply gas to customers within EON's network. The Commission intends to market test E.ON's proposals, with a view to adopting a decision under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. Under such a procedure, the commitments would be made legally binding by a decision of the Commission and the Commission would not pursue the antitrust investigation further.