Strasbourg, 17 October 2003

Dear Mr P.,

On 18 June 2003, you made a complaint on behalf of Scania AB to the European Ombudsman concerning alleged lack of transparency by the European Commission in relation to two merger decisions Volvo/Scania and Volvo/Renault.

In your complaint, you alleged that the Commission has failed to provide Scania with information, which is indispensable for Scania's operations, concerning the terms of the divestiture of the Volvo shareholding in Scania. In your view, Scania is a directly involved party in the case and is therefore entitled to obtain the requested information according to Article 18, paragraph 3, of the Merger Regulation.

On 27 June 2003, I forwarded the complaint to the President of the European Commission. The Commission sent its opinion on 4 August 2003. In its opinion, the Commission informed the Ombudsman that Scania has brought an action before the Court of First Instance on 4 May 2003 (Case T-163/2003).

Article 195 of the Treaty establishing the European Community provides:

"[T]he Ombudsman shall conduct inquiries for which he finds grounds, ...,except where the alleged facts are or have been the subject of legal proceedings."

Article 2 (7) of the Statute of the European Ombudsman stipulates:

"When the Ombudsman, because of legal proceedings in progress or concluded concerning facts which have been put forward, has to declare a complaint inadmissible or terminate consideration of it, the outcome of any enquiries he has carried out up to that point shall be filed without further action."

In its Summary of the Pleas of Law submitted to the Court of First Instance, Scania invokes Article 18 (3) of the Merger Regulation claiming access to the confidential terms regarding the terms of the divestiture of the shareholding of Volvo in Scania on the grounds that Scania is a directly involved party in the undertaking(1).

As there is a case pending before the Court of First Instance which concerns the facts which have been put forward by you, I have decided, in accordance with Article 2 (7) of the Statute of the European Ombudsman, to terminate consideration of your complaint and to file the outcome of the inquiries carried out so far without further action.

The President of the European Commission will also be informed of this decision.

Yours sincerely,

 

P. Nikiforos DIAMANDOUROS

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(1) OJ C 184, 2.8.2003. page 37.