2002/164/EC: Commission Decision of 7 February 2001 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.1853 — EDF/EnBW) (notified under document number C(2001) 335) (Text with EEA relevance.)

• Articles: 3

Article 1

Subject to full compliance with the commitments, set out in the Annexes, the notified operation whereby Electricité de France and Zweckverband Oberschwäbische Elektrizitätswerke acquire joint control of Energie Baden-Württemberg AG is hereby declared compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to:

The notifying Parties.

Done at Brussels, 7 February 2001.

For the Commission

Mario Monti

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1; corrected version in OJ L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13.

(2) OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1.

(3) OJ C 53, 28.2.2002.

(4) Loi n° 2000 - 108 relative à la modernisation et au développement du service public de l'électricité

(5) OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20.

(6) OJ C 323, 11.11.1999, p. 11.

(7) Source: Unipede; Eurostat; VDEW.

(8) EDF Annual Report 1999, p. 9.

(9) EDF Annual Report 1999, p. 8.

(10) Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) produces 1,5 to 2 TWh which are, however, used for its captive use.

(11) CRE, Activity Report, 30 June 2000, p. 7.

(12) "Rapport sur le mécanisme d'ajustement des flux électriques par le gestionnaire du réseau public de transport d'électricité (GRT) et sur la création en France d'un marché de l'électricité", September 2000, p. 38.

(13) In this context, CNR criticises in its Activity Report (p. 6) that "EDF purchase obligations - and moreover at subsidised prices - relative to cogeneration, decided well before the 10 February 2000 law, allow this system to continue to supply EDF exclusively, whereas it is one of the rare national systems capable of being competitive on the eligible market".

(14) The installation of new generation capacity requires an authorisation from the Minister of Energy if the capacity installed exceeds 4,5 MW. Below this threshold, a simple declaration is sufficient.

(15) CRE, Activity Report, 30 June 2000, p. 9.

(16) CRE, Activity Report, 30 June 2000, p. 21.

(17) CRE, Activity Report, 30 June 2000, p. 4.

(18) CRE, Activity Report, 30 June 2000, p. 9.

(19) Prix du gaz et de l'électricité en Europe, Edition October 2000, p. 8.

(20) E.ON is the result of the VEBA/VIAG merger.

(21) EnBW own estimates.

(22) There is a fifth interconnector in the RWE supply area which is normally out of operation.

(23) VEBA/VIAG, Decision of 13 June 2000.

(24) EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg (Allemagne): Acquisition d'une participation de 25,01 % dans le cadre d'une offre portant sur 34,01 %, p. 11.

(25) EnBW, Annual Report 1999, p. 28.

(26) EDF through EDFI and RWE each have a 20 % participation in Motor Columbus, a holding company with a majority stake (56,6 %) in Atel. In addition, EDF has a direct participation in Atel of 1,2 %. The remaining shareholders in Motor Columbus are the Swiss Bank UBS with a share of 37,2 % and other institutional investors which have together 22,8 %. EDF and RWE are, therefore, the only shareholders in Motor Columbus which have a strategic commercial interest. They are both represented in the Conseil d'Administration of Motor Columbus and of Atel.

(27) See Commission Decision of 4 December 1997 in Case IV/M. 958 WATT AG II, (OJ C 116, 16.4.1998, p. 2).

(28) Whilst the capacity price is determined by the individual bid, the energy price that means the price for the electricity drawn from the capacity acquired is fixed by EDF on the basis of its variable costs. By contrast, the reference value is no fixed price, but only a technical instrument for carrying out the auction.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX

The full English text of the Commitments referred to in Article 1 may be consulted on the following Commission website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/index_en.html