EU regulators have asked Berlin to explain any conditions it imposed on E.On AG when the energy company took over Ruhrgas in 2002, AP QUOTED the European Commission as saying Monday. It said it had new information that made it believe Germany may not be complying with EU rules that allow companies do business anywhere in the 25-nation bloc. «There are some questions on the conditions of E.On's takeover concerning Ruhrgas,» said EU spokesman Oliver Drewes. «Especially we are interested to find out if there are any kind of special rights, or situations, attached to these conditions.» «We, of course, think that there might be a situation which is not in line with the principles of the (EU) Treaty,» he said, adding that no formal probe is yet open. Drewes said this was part of the EU's crackdown on national governments holding «golden shares» in companies that have been privatized. These special controlling stakes in former state monopolies sometimes give governments the right to veto mergers or block some investments. The companies involved are often in the postal, telecom and energy sectors that run a country's infrastructure The EU says such shares break EU internal market rules because they are likely to deter investors from other EU nations from investing in a company. To date, the EU courts have upheld only one golden share case, allowing the Belgian government to keep a special stake in energy company Distrigaz SA in 2002 within limited boundaries. EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said last month that France's intention to keep a controlling minority stake in planned energy giant Suez-GDF appears to be legal because it meets that 2002 test.
