The European Commission is reportedly planning a new court action against Germany in its long-running dispute with the German government over the ‘VW law’ which protects the firm from takeover and is viewed by the EU’s administrative body as anti-competitive.
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However, EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has yet to put a formal proposal to colleagues at the Commission and a date has still to be set.
In June, the Commission warned that it could return the case to the European Court of Justice if Berlin failed to respond to its concerns that the law blocked the free flow of capital.
The European Commission launched legal action against Germany in June but amendments proposed by Germany to the law have now been rejected by Charlie McCreevy.
Reuters reports that the IG Metall labour union, which represents the carmaker’s employees, said it hoped 30,000 VW workers would rally in front of the company’s head office on Friday in support of the law.
The German state of Lower Saxony, VW’s second-biggest shareholder with just over 20% of the votes on VW’s board, has said it would keep its stake.
An amendment to the VW law – yet to be formally adopted by Germany – still preserves a strong say for VW staff and its home state of Lower Saxony, something Porsche (which now has a bigger say in VW) opposes.
When VW was privatised in 1959, the state guaranteed to maintain a state minority interest.
Last year, the European Union’s top court ruled against a law giving the German state of Lower Saxony the ability to block company decisions.
See also: BELGIUM: EC issues formal warning to Germany
