Press Release: Commission confirms that territorial restriction clauses in the gas sector restrict competition

The Commission confirmed, by two formal decisions, the first on this subject in the gas sector, that territorial restriction clauses infringe Article 81 of the Treaty. The clauses in question were contained until recently in two contracts, one a transportation and the other a service contract, concluded by GDF (Gaz de France) with ENI and ENEL respectively. The two clauses prohibited ENI and ENEL from selling in France the natural gas which GDF transported on their behalf. The clauses prevented French consumers therefore from obtaining their supplies from the two Italian operators and constituted a sizeable obstacle to the creation of a genuinely competitive and integrated gas market at European level.