Energy champions should be created by the will of shareholders and not political intervention, the European Commission (EC) said today.
The EC was referring to France's backing of a merger of state-controlled Gaz de France and private utility Suez.
Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola told a newspaper that Italy would ask the EC to look into Paris's backing of the merger. Italy's biggest utility, state-controlled Enel, said last week it could bid for Suez.
"The commission has always contended that we need strong players on the single market and on the global scene and that such champions should be the result of their strength on the market and not the consequence of political intervention," a commission spokesman told a news briefing.
"In the end when there is a merger, it is the shareholders, the owners to take the final decisions in the respect of competition law and free movement of capital," he said.
The commission spokesman said he was not aware of any letter of objection to the deal from Rome so far.