Transatlantic Politics

Yesterday’s  record fine against US giant Intel - $ 1.45 billion - is yet another example of EU’s double standards when it comes to American companies and Russian monopolies.

Not that TransatlanticPolitics is contesting the accuracy of the EU commission’s findings  - the bloc’s guardian of fair competition rules - but it is at least dubious that no probe has been launched into any Russian company/monopoly on the EU market.

"Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years," competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said.

"If we smell that there is something rotten in the state, we act."

It seems however that Gazprom’s actions on the EU market have no smell, despite its ownership of half of the trading floor in one of Europe’s major gas hubs in Austria - Baumgarten.

No formal inquiry has been launched by the EU into this matter, although Gazprom basically has free access to priviliged information about all the gas being traded there.

"Knowing, for example, that one company’s future contracts become mature on this particular date, another county needs gas on that date, if you know all the pricing information, you can undercut these limited opportunities that began to emerge at Baumgarten for more market-based pricing of gas giving this arbitrage a possibility. So, it’s crucial that the EU is examining the operation of that gas hub and information systems and make sure the information is not being used by one company or another company to undercut competition," US deputy assistant secretary of state Matt Bryza told EUobserver in April. Similar statements here.

 Asked about this issue, a spokesman for the EU commission said the matter was not relevant, since Gazprom could only follow the amounts of gas currently traded and not influence any future transactions.

So much for Europe’s level playing field..

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