DG Comp refocuses, appoints consultants on FT investigation

摘要

The European Commission division dedicated to ensuring competition in all industries in the European Union, DG Competition (DG Comp), will be radically restructured from May 2004, to speed up its investigations. The restructuring is the result of new rules enshrined in regulation No. 1/2003, which amends the rules enforcing competition law at EU level. The regulation was adopted on December 16, 2002, by the European Council. In a separate development, the Commission is poised to appoint a team of external consultants to aid its investigation into whether the French government is guilty under EU law of giving illegal state aid to the French incumbent, France Telecom. DG Comp has received a number of sealed bids from economists and lawyers since it began a public tender process to find the consultants in July.