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| Italy and the EU have yet to agree on the merger of the two airlines ITA-Lufthansa. (Source: ansa.it) |
The fate of the merger between Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Italy's ITA Airways, based on an agreement signed with the Italian government in May 2023, is now in doubt after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni questioned the European Commission (EC) about the delay in the merger process.
Rome also called on European authorities not to waste time in giving the green light to the investment.
Lufthansa will buy 41% of ITA Airways for 325 million euros, and may later be allowed to buy the remaining shares. But the EC's refusal has left Prime Minister Meloni disappointed.
“It is strange that the EC is blocking the solution to the ITA issue,” Mr. Meloni said at a press conference after attending the G20 summit. “The EC has been asking us for years to find a solution to this problem, but when we found a solution, they blocked it. So we don’t understand and we want answers.”
Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti raised the issue of resolving Lufthansa's purchase of a minority stake in ITA with EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni. The issue was also raised during a meeting between Giorgetti and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
However, while the Italian Economy Ministry said in a statement that the ITA-Lufthansa merger dossier had not yet been given the "green light" by the EC, the EC said it had not received any notification of the deal, and a spokesperson reiterated that it was up to the parties involved to notify them of the transaction.
“The EC remains in close contact with the parties to discuss the transaction ahead of the formal announcement. These pre-announcement contacts are ongoing and are part of the standard process for assessing a complex operation,” an EU source added.
EU Commissioner Didier Reynders, who took over the portfolio after former EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, is expected to meet with Minister Giorgetti soon, according to the Italian Economy Ministry.
“The reaction of the EU executive body entrusted to the spokesperson was positive because it is a prerequisite for a process that will take place very quickly,” the ministry said in a statement.
The notification of the agreement to sell a minority stake in ITA to Lufthansa to the European Competition Commission was, in fact, only accepted at the end of the investigation that the EC itself was conducting very meticulously as part of the pre-notification period that had already been initiated”.
Once the parties notify the EC, it can take up to 90 days to decide whether to accept or reject the case.
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