Commissie verwelkomt maatregelen ENI voor meer competitie op Italiaanse gasmarkt (en)

MEMO/ 10/29

Brussels, 4 th February 2010

Antitrust: Commission welcomes ENI's structural remedies proposal to increase competition in the Italian gas market

The European Commission welcomes structural remedies offered by the Italian energy company ENI. The remedies are in response to concerns expressed by the Commission that the management and operation of natural gas transmission pipelines by ENI could breach EU antitrust rules' ban on abuse of a dominant market position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - TFEU). ENI proposes to divest its shares in three international transport pipelines: the TAG, the TENP and the Transitgas pipeline. The Commission intends to market test ENI's proposal 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 Commission decision.

The Commission’s main concern is that ENI may have foreclosed competition in the Italian gas supply markets by implementing a refusal to supply strategy. In a Statement of Objections issued on 6 March 2009 ( MEMO/09/120 ), the Commission indicated that ENI may have abused its dominant position on the Italian gas supply markets and the transport markets by refusing to grant competitors access to capacity available on the transport network (capacity hoarding), by granting access in an impractical manner (capacity degradation) and by strategically limiting investment (strategic underinvestment) in ENI's international transmission pipeline system. It further indicated that these practices may have taken place despite very significant short- and long-term demand from third party shippers and that these practices potentially weakened competition on the gas markets, and harmed customers in Italy.

In light of this, and subject to the results of the market test, the Commission welcomes ENI's proposal to divest its stakes in the transmission pipelines as this structural remedy has the potential to remove the concern that is at the heart of the Commission's investigation, namely the conflict of interest resulting from the vertical integration of the company.

The commitment could therefore constitute a major step towards facilitating competition in Italian gas markets to the benefit of gas customers at the same time as increasing security of supply.

The Commission will continue to conduct antitrust investigations in the energy sector, notably in the light of the serious problems identified in the Commission's inquiry into competition in the energy sector (see IP/07/26 and MEMO/07/15 ).