Friday March 7, 06:35 PM
Spanish PM sees France's EDF launching operation in Spain
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MADRID (AFP) - French state-controlled utility EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) will likely launch an operation aimed at entering the Spanish market shortly, Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview published Friday.
"I think we will have an operation on the table in the coming months," he told left-wing daily El Pais when asked about his discussions with French President Nicolas Sarkozy regarding EDF's interest in the Spanish market.
Zapatero said the operation would come after Sunday's general elections, in which the last opinion polls gave his Sociasist Party a lead of about four percentage points over the conservative opposition Popular Party.
"What's evident is we have a good relationship with France and we will look for a good situation in the energy area," he said.
Last month EDF said it has discussed investing in Spain's Iberdrola (Madrid: IBE.MC - news) together with Spanish builder ACS (Madrid: ACS.MC - news) , the largest shareholder in the utility. Iberdrola has made it clear that it does not welcome the interest.
In the newspaper interview, Zapatero said he had not specifically discussed EDF's interest in Iberdrola in his meetings with the French president.
Europe's highest court ruled Thursday that Spain had broken European Union law by not withdrawing restrictions on Spanish power firm Endesa (ENDESA.SN - news) 's takeover by German energy group EON (Xetra: 761440 - news) as the European Commission had ordered it to do.
The decision raised expectations that foreign firms would now have a better chance of entering the Spanish market, prompting utilities like Iberdrola, Union Fenosa and Gamesa (Madrid: GAM.MC - news) to close up.
EON eventually dropped its bid in April 2007 and Endesa has since been bought by Spanish group Acciona and Italy's Enel (Milan: ENEL.MI - news) .
In an interview with Spanish public television TVE, Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said the court had ruled that the "strategic reasons" cited by Madrid to impose its restrictions on the bid "did not exist in the energy sector."
Solbes said the decision was "reasonable" and "important not just for Spain, but for all of Europe."
"It will lead us to a different energy model, certainly a more open one," he told Spanish public broadcaster TVE.
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