German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle will introduce legislation next month that would enable the government to break up any company that uses its dominant position to impair competition. Under the terms of the bill, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office could force companies to sell parts of their business as an emergency measure to “boost or allow competition to the benefit of consumers and the overall economy.” In a document addressing the proposed competition rules, the Ministry wrote that this approach “addresses such cases where antitrust law is breached and where this can only be ended effectively and appropriately by intervening in the company structure.” Furthermore, the document continued, “this addresses highly concentrated, economically important markets where no concrete violation may have been recorded but where there's no or hardly any competition even though competition is technically possible and economically sensible."
Although this latest step will affect all industries, many believe that it is aimed at Germany’s utility companies. The nation’s four largest energy companies—E.ON AG, RWE AG, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and Vattenfall Europe AG—produce more than 80% of Germany’s electricity.
Read more coverage in the Wall Street Journal and at Bloomberg.com.
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