Spanish state defiant on EC legal action against regulator power

Barcelona (Platts)--11May2006

The Spanish government is unfazed by the legal action launched by the
European Commission over Spain's decision to expand the powers of national
energy regulator CNE in response to the takeover bid of domestic utility
Endesa by Germany's E.ON, the government said Wednesday.
"No European administration changes its regulations from the mere fact of
receiving a letter of formal notice from the commission," Industry Minister
Jose Montilla told the Spanish congress May 10.
"The government is not going to retract the royal decree
because it is supported by a wide majority of this chamber," he added.
Montilla went on to note that the issuance of such notices by the EC is a
routine occurance, citing as an example the 270 received by the previous
Spanish government, ousted in May 2004, that are still pending resolution.
Nonetheless, the minister said that the Spanish government will respond
to the EC's May 8 notice, explaining the reasoning for the February 24
decision to expand the regulatory reach of the CNE.

 

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