nish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves foThe U.K. has long been following EU Competition rules to the letter allowing fully open opportunities for foreign ownership of its utilities. So much so that there are only two major British owned gas and electricity suppliers left, namely Centrica and Scottish and Southern Energy both of which have not escaped recent rumours of foreign takeover.

However, it would appear that when Europe talks about fully open and integrated markets it really means open for some but closed for others. Neelie Kroes , the European Competition Commissioner, made it clear that she would not tolerate the lack of cross-border competition in mainland Europe yet when she proposed that the only real solution to this problem was a break-up of the giant European utilities she was forced to accept a watered down version under severe pressure from the German and French governments.

Others, such as the Spanish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves for

s left, namely Centrica and Scottish and Southern Energy both of which have not escaped recent rumours of foreign takeover.

However, it would appear that when Europe talks about fully open and integrated markets it really means open for some but closed for others. Neelie Kroes , the European Competition Commissioner, made it clear that she would not tolerate the lack of cross-border competition in mainland Europe yet when she proposed that the only real solution to this problem was a break-up of the giant European utilities she was forced to accept a watered down version under severe pressure from the German and French governments.

Others, such as the Spanish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves fo

ly means open for some but closed for others. Neelie Kroes , the European Competition Commissioner, made it clear that she would not tolerate the lack of cross-border competition in mainland Europe yet when she proposed that the only real solution to this problem was a break-up of the giant European utilities she was forced to accept a watered down version under severe pressure from the German and French governments.

Others, such as the Spanish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves fo

the only real solution to this problem was a break-up of the giant European utilities she was forced to accept a watered down version under severe pressure from the German and French governments.

Others, such as the Spanish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves fo

nish, have not been quite so keen as the British to take the competition rules literally. So it was perfectly O.K. for Spanish company Iberdrola to take over Scottish Power but when the German giant Eon began to make moves for Endesa the protectionist tendancy of the Spanish government began to rear its ugly head. Despite the Spanish government being found guilty by the European Commission of imposing totally unfair conditions on Eon’s takeover bid Spanish company Acciona along with Italy’s Enel were able to conjure up a deal that would send Eon off with its tail between its legs. But if Italy's Enel thought that it would be able to take control of Endesa through the back door it must think again as Spain is busy putting together further nationalistic obstacles which will restrict its future business options.

I find it difficult to comprehend why German, French and Spanish governments who could all be classed at least one notch above the U.K. on the Europhile scale still insist on protectionism whenever their national energy suppliers are threatened with foreign takeover or a foreign energy company is se