Swedish power grid monopoly faces EU competition probe
Sweden's state-owned power grid operator is to be subjected to an antitrust probe over suspicions that it abused its monopoly, the European Commission announced on Thursday.
Europe's top competition watchdog said that Svenska Kraftnät (SvK), the monopoly power transmission provider, may be unfairly restricting export capacity on Swedish links to neighbouring countries.
It voiced concerns that SvK was trying to relieve congestion in the Swedish network at the expense of consumers in other countries, "thereby hindering the proper functioning of the single market in electricity."
"The commission has therefore opened a formal antitrust investigation into whether such practices indeed exist and whether they may constitute an illegal abuse of a dominant market position," it said.
The commission said that opening proceedings against SvK did not necessarily mean that it had broken EU antitrust rules, but only that the case would be dealt with as a matter of priority.
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Europe's top competition watchdog said that Svenska Kraftnät (SvK), the monopoly power transmission provider, may be unfairly restricting export capacity on Swedish links to neighbouring countries.
It voiced concerns that SvK was trying to relieve congestion in the Swedish network at the expense of consumers in other countries, "thereby hindering the proper functioning of the single market in electricity."
"The commission has therefore opened a formal antitrust investigation into whether such practices indeed exist and whether they may constitute an illegal abuse of a dominant market position," it said.
The commission said that opening proceedings against SvK did not necessarily mean that it had broken EU antitrust rules, but only that the case would be dealt with as a matter of priority.
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