Press Release: Mergers: Commission refers Spain to Court for not lifting unlawful conditions imposed on E.ON’s bid for Endesa

The European Commission has decided to refer Spain to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with the Commission's decisions requiring Spain to withdraw certain conditions concerning E.ON’s bid for Endesa. Some of the conditions were imposed by the Spanish Energy Regulator (CNE) in July 2006, others by a Ministerial decision of 3 November 2006. The conditions in question were declared illegal under Article 21 of the EU Merger Regulation by Commission decisions adopted on 26 September 2006 and 20 December 2006 respectively (see IP/06/1265 and IP/06/1853). These decisions have immediate binding effect.