FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Von der Leyen needs the support of the Italian prime minister to shore up the increasingly unstable political coalition...
The European Commission appears to be slowing down its decision to take action against Italy over its controversial use of national security powers to block a banking merger between UniCredit, the Milan-based bank, and its rival BPM.
Officials in the competition and financial services directorates submitted their assessment of the case to President Ursula von der Leyen’s office weeks ago but have yet to receive a response, five people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The assessment is not in Rome’s favor, said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Commission sources speculate that the delay is related to broader political negotiations at the highest level between Brussels and Rome. According to another person, von der Leyen is being careful not to upset Giorgia Meloni because earlier this year, Italy ruled that UniCredit’s €10 billion acquisition of BPM posed a threat to national security. Under the government’s rules for screening foreign direct investment, known as its “golden rule,” Rome imposed conditions on April 18 that effectively prevented UniCredit from completing the deal.
The Commission opened a so-called EU Pilot procedure to determine whether the use of national safeguards in a banking merger is compatible with EU banking regulations and single market freedoms. The process could ultimately lead to an infringement procedure as happened when the Spanish government blocked BBVA's acquisition of Catalan bank Banco Sabadell.
The Commission's competition directorate gave the deal a conditional green light on June 19. A month later, it warned Italy that by implementing the golden power in an internal deal, Italy may have breached union rules, as well as other provisions of EU law.
The Commission is currently assessing Italy's responses to both investigations, a spokesman for the EU executive said.
Golden power
The golden power equips Italy with extensive screening tools to curb bids for national champions from foreign investors considered national security risks, such as those from China.
Using this tool to block an internal merger appeared to ignore the EU’s push for greater banking consolidation across Europe to compete with American rivals. The largest American bank, JP Morgan, has a market capitalization more than four times that of its closest European counterpart, Santander.
Von der Leyen needs the support of the Italian prime minister to shore up the increasingly unstable political coalition that supported her for a second term last year.
The Commissioner for Banking and Financial Services, Maria Luís Albuquerque, has consistently spoken out in favor of banking consolidation across the bloc.
The competition and financial services teams had their assessment of the case ready shortly after Italy submitted its final round of responses to the Commission in August, one of the people who spoke to POLITICO said. But von der Leyen’s cabinet, which must ultimately adopt a decision, has taken no action so far, they added.
According to Italian media reports, Italy has tried to buy more time and avoid an infringement procedure by suggesting it could change its legislation on gold power. Financial daily Milano Finanza reported on Tuesday that the Commission has set a date of November 13 for a decision.
An Italian official with knowledge of the file said the Commission could take slow action against Italy, given that Unicredit’s withdrawal from the deal is now irreversible. That would give it time to examine whether Italy’s gold power complies with EU competition rules, without the pressure of a real deal.
Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported last week that Italy may be willing to change its gold power to respond to the Commission's concerns about how it was used in the Unicredit-BPM case.
All matters related to the golden power are handled by von der Leyen’s office, said another Commission official, who is not directly involved in the matter and also was granted anonymity to speak candidly. It is usually quite easy to conduct a technical analysis of such files, but “politics always trump that,” they added./ Adapted from “Pamphlet” by “Politico”
Lini një Përgjigje