Business Brief

French gambling restrictions face action

The European Commission is to launch legal action on 18 October against France for restricting competition in the sports betting sector. The move will follow the arrests of two heads of German internet gambling group Bwin last week (15 September) for competing with French monopoly companies. Bwin is planning legal action against France for the contravention of human rights.

Prodi hits road deal

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi plans to hold talks with his Spanish counterpart José Luis Zapatero on the €11 billion bid by Spanish toll-road operator Albertis for the Italian company Autostrade when he goes to Madrid in the second half of October for a debate with African leaders on immigration. The Italian government opposes the takeover. A ruling on the bid from the European Commission is imminent.

Russian gas to Spain

Spanish energy group Endesa and Russian gas giant Gazprom will be exploring common interests in the gas and electricity markets, according to a joint statement issued on Monday (18 September). The Spanish company is looking into importing gas by ship from Russia to Spain. German group E.ON, which launched a €29bn bid for Endesa in February, also has close links with Gaprom.

French deputies set to vote on Gaz de France

The French parliament has set a date of 3 October to vote on the further privatisation of Gaz de France, a necessary precondition for a planned merger with utilities giant Suez. Thierry Breton, French finance minister, said that the government would no longer need to resort to an executive decree to force the law through parliament. Both Gaz de France and Suez were due yesterday (20 September) to submit a list of concessions to EU regulators. A Commission ruling on the merger is expected between 25 October and 17 November.

MEPs will have a first discussion on Tuesday (26 September) of Commission proposals to limit mobile phone roaming charges. Viviane Reding, European commissioner for the information society, will be presenting to the European Parliament’s industry committee her controversial proposals to cap fees for mobile calls made abroad.