Memo: Competition: Commission confirms sending Statement of Objections to members of SkyTeam global airline alliance

The European Commission on 19 June 2006 confirmed that it had sent a Statement of Objections to members of the SkyTeam airline alliance. The Commission did not raise objections to the alliance as a whole but had concerns about a limited number of routes, for which the Commission considered that the SkyTeam co-operation may have a negative effect on competition and therefore might infringe the EC Treaty’s prohibition on restrictive business practices (Article 81). The Commission’s goal was to ensure that reduced competition in certain markets would not outweigh the benefits for customers of SkyTeam co-operation.