MEPS reject social issue plan for mergers

Date: 06/06/02

By Peter Chapman

MEPS have rejected attempts by fellow deputies to force the European Commission to take jobs and social issues into account when it vets company mergers.

The assembly's economic and monetary affairs committee threw out a raft of amendments by chairwoman Christa Randzio-Plath designed to give Competition Commissioner Mario Monti and his cohorts a more caring face.

Randzio-Plath said the Commission and member states 'have a role in anticipating and addressing the negative social and employment impacts which mergers and acquisitions may have, and to assist the social partners to find commonly agreed solutions to mitigate the negative effects of mergers and acquisitions'.

But MEPs heeded calls from Randzio-Plath's fellow socialist Luis Berenguer Fuster for merger watchdogs to concentrate solely on the effects of deals on fair competition.

The row - in a debate on Monti's plans to overhaul EU merger rules - was a carbon copy of the fierce battle he had with jobs chief Anna Diamantopoulou over the variables his merger task force must weigh-up when they examine deals.

Monti silenced his colleague after inserting conciliatory wording into his green paper - dismissed by legal experts as largely meaningless.

Meanwhile, MEPs pressed to increase the pace of legal challenges to merger rulings at the European Court of First Instance. They said faster judicial review of decisions was vital since there was 'no separation between the investigating and decision-making authorities, a situation which the Parliament regards as hard to reconcile...with the basic requirement of legal certainty'.

MEPs have rejected attempts by fellow deputies to force the European Commission to take jobs and social issues into account when it vets company mergers.