WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1290/96 by Antoni GUTIÉRREZ DÍAZ to the Commission. Merger of the Crown Cork & Seal and Carnaudmetalbox food and drink canning groups
Date: 1996-05-31
Institutions: European Parliament, GUTIERREZ DIAZ
Subjects: EU production, aerosol, dominant position, economic concentration, economic consequence, merger control, plate, preparation for market, supply, takeover bid













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91996E1290

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1290/96 by Antoni GUTIÉRREZ DÍAZ to the Commission. Merger of the Crown Cork & Seal and Carnaudmetalbox food and drink canning groups  


Official Journal C 322 , 28/10/1996 P. 0051 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1290/96 by Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (31 May 1996)Subject: Merger of the Crown Cork & Seal and Carnaudmetalbox food and drink canning groupsOn 6 November 1995, the Advisory Committee on Concentrations delivered its opinion on this merger ((OJ C 86, 23.3.1996, p. 3.)), and on 14 November 1996 the Commission deemed the operation compatible with the single market and the EEE Agreement (Decision 96/222/EC ((OJ L 75, 23.3.1996, p. 38.))).The Commission's decision leads me to ask:1. Can the Commission tell me who decided, and why, that the new company should 'relinquish control' of five aerosol factories (connected with neither food nor drink), namely the Carnaudmetalbox, Lyon, Reus and Schwedt factories and the Crown factories in the UK and Italy?2. What industrial and R& D productivity plans exist? What effects will they have in terms of direct (or derived) employment and in how many plants?3. What effect will the concentration of purchasing power have on supplies of European materials? Will such supplies be procured exclusively from within Europe?Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (3 July 1996)1. In its investigation of the proposed merger between Crown Cork and Seal and Carnaud Metalbox the Commission found that the operation, as originally notified, would lead to the creation of a dominant position in the European market for tinplate aerosol cans. For the reasons of this finding, the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its Decision 96/222/EC in this case ((OJ L 75, 23.3.1996. )). To remove this concern, Crown Cork and Seal decided to offer the divestiture of five aerosol plants. The offer specified the plants to be divested. The Commission considered this offer to be sufficient to remove its competitive concerns. It therefore declared the concentration compatible with the common market.2. The plants have not yet been divested. Therefore, the plans of any new owner regarding productivity or employment are unknown at this moment.3. The Commission examined intensively in its investigation the future impact of this merger on supplies of materials, especially tinplate. It found that the operation will not lead to the creation of buying power. It noted especially that the current market situation in the United States will not allow the parties to use United States prices as an additional leverage against European suppliers for two reasons. First, an economic survey ordered by the Commission showed that the price difference between the United States and Europe is not big enough to create an economic incentive to ship substantial amounts of tin mill products across the Atlantic. Second, it found that the United States tin mills have not enough reserve capacity to serve non-American customers on a large scale. In the light of these findings, no significant change in the patterns and origins of supply is to be expected in the future.