Opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations given at the 73rd meeting on 24 January 2000 and continuing on 1 February 2000 concerning a preliminary draft decision relating to Case COMP/M.1628 — TotalFina/Elf (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2000-01-24
Institutions: Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions
Subjects: competition law, dominant position, economic concentration, merger control, oil industry

C 154/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

29.5.2001

of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations given at the 73rd meeting on 24 January 2000 and
continuing on 1 February 2000 concerning a preliminary draft decision relating to Case
COMP/M.1628 (cid:151) TotalFina/Elf

OPINION

(2001/C 154/09)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that
the notified operation constitutes a concentration within the
meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the EC Merger Regulation, and
that the notified operation has a Community dimension as
defined by Article 1(2) of the EC Merger Regulation.

2. The majority of the Advisory Committee agrees with the
Commission that there are relevant product markets for:

(a) the wholesale supply of leaded petrol, unleaded petrol,

diesel fuel, and domestic heating oil;

(b) the provision of storage capacity in import terminals

connected to means of bulk transport;

(c)

the transportation of refined petroleum products by
pipeline;

(d) the sale of fuels on motorways;

(e)

the sale of aviation fuels; and

(f)

the sale of liquefied petroleum gas.

(a) the French or the regional wholesale markets for the
fuel,

leaded petrol, unleaded petrol, diesel

supply of
and domestic heating oil;

(b) the regional markets
capacity in import
bulk transport;

for

storage
the provision of
terminals connected to means of

(c)

the regional markets for the transportation of refined
petroleum products by pipeline;

(d) the French or the regional market for the sale of fuels

on motorways;

(e)

the market
Blagnac and Lyon-Satolas airports; and

for the aviation fuels on the Toulouse-

(f)

the French market for liquefied petroleum gas;

as a result of which, effective competition would be
significantly impeded within the common market.

A minority disagrees with the Commission on point (d).

A minority abstains on point (e).

3. The majority of the Advisory Committee agrees with the
Commission that the relevant geographic markets for:

(a) the wholesale supply of

leaded and unleaded petrol,
diesel fuel, and domestic heating oil are either regional
or national, but that the exact geographic market defi-
nition can be left open;

(b) storage capacity in terminals connected to means of

bulk transport is regional;

(c)

the transportation of refined petroleum products by
pipeline is regional;

(d) the sale of fuels on motorways is either regional or
national, but that the exact geographic market definition
can be left open;

(e) aviation fuels is each airport separately; and

(f)

liquefied petroleum gas is national.

A minority disagrees with the Commission on points (d)
and (f). Another minority abstains on point (e).

4. The majority of the Advisory Committee agrees with the
Commission that the concentration leads to the creation of
dominant position on:

5. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that
the concentration does not create or strengthen dominant
position on the markets for sulphur and ethylene.

decision that

6. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s
as
draft
commitments proposed,
the
explained in the draft Decision, do not remove all
competitive concerns of the concentration identified in the
draft Decision.

the

7. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that:

(a) the

as

submitted commitments,

explained by the
Commission in the Advisory Committee meeting on
24 January and as adjusted according to results of
(cid:145)market testing(cid:146) as explained by the Commission on 1
February, remove all the competitive concerns identified
in 4 above; and

(b) subject

full

to the

compliance of

submitted
commitments,
the notified operation is compatible
with the common market and the functioning of the
EEA Agreement.

the

8. The Advisory Committee recommends the publication of its
opinion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.