Ita-Lufthansa, the Commission is (still) taking time

Economy

Of Cristiana Flaminio – April 26, 2024

Giorgetti had recommended that the deadlines be respected, the Commission announces that the verdict on the Ita-Lufthansa marriage will be postponed by twenty days. Brussels, after yesterday’s meeting between the owner of the Mef and the vice-president Margrethe Vestager, EU Antitrust Commissioner, reported that the final decision on the merger of the Italian airline within the German air giant will arrive well after the date of June 6, initially set for the final pronouncement.

Lea Zuber, spokeswoman for the Competition Commission, said in a press briefing that Brussels needs more time to decide: “We are in phase two of the investigation, and the deadline is set for 6 June. But what is possible – said Zuber – is that, if the parties and the Commission agree, they can request an extension of the deadline of up to twenty days; it does not necessarily have to be twenty days but can reach up to twenty working days”. With the hope, on the Italian side, that that deadline will not be exceeded. Because, at that point, the situation would risk becoming unmanageable. But the possibility of a further stop is certainly there.
In fact, added the spokeswoman, “there is also the possibility of activating the stop the clock procedure: if the Commission asks the parties for clarifications and these clarifications are not provided in time, the Commission can stop the clock”.

Yesterday Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti went to Brussels to meet the Vice President of the EU Commission Margrethe Vestager on the vexed issue linked to the marriage, which Europe has so far opposed, between Ita Airways and Lufthansa. The meeting was defined as “frank, cordial and constructive” according to the usual note that follows these appointments. But for the Germans, the summit was anything but decisive and sources close to Lufthansa said they were disappointed by the fact that the meeting would not have touched on the decisive and important issues nor resulted in the expected green light from the EU Antitrust for the acquisition of the Italian company. Giorgetti, meanwhile, reminded Vestager how important it is to “respect the timing of the decision” to guarantee a future for Ita Airways and its workers. Today the Commission is officially taking its time.

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