Italian energy major Eni has received a statement of objections from the European Commission according to which the company, during the period 2000-2005, was allegedly responsible for limiting the access of third parties to the TAG, TENP and Transitgas gas pipelines.
According to the statement, Eni would have to break down the expansion of the pipelines. The statement of objections aims to inform Eni about the formalization of the inquiry for an alleged infringement of the antitrust regulation in order to allow the company to present its own position on the pipelines under scrutiny.
If, at the end of the proceedings, the alleged violations are confirmed, the European Commission (EC) intends to impose structural remedies consisting of the disposal of all Eni’s participation interests in the companies that own the TENP and Transitgas systems, and in the companies that manage the rights on the capacities of the TENP, Transitgas and TAG systems, together with a monetary sanction.
Eni claims that the ownership separation that the EC intends to pursue through the compelled disposal of the gas pipelines, apart from going beyond what has been established by the sector regulation, would expose not only Italy but also the entire European Union to a deterioration of gas supply security.
