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Enron Mail |
Paul -
I have been doing some background research on whether we can use administrative proceedings at the FERC, State Commissions, the SEC (Public Utility Holding Company Act) and FTC to raise our issues with regard to E.On's anticompetitive activities in Germany. As I mentioned earlier, Enron's ability to use US federal and state regulatory proceedings to leverage change in Germany is limited and could backfire on Enron. For example, the standard used by the FERC to approve acquisitions of public utilities subject to its jurisdiction is limited in scope and does not allow us to intervene as an interested party simply because we have problems in Germany. I think the best course of action is to highlight this as a general Germany - US trade issue and get both the USG and the Congress interested. There may also be some scope for raising this as a political issue in states where E.On is proposing an acquisition (let's hope they try to buy a Texas utility). I have been trading calls with the German expert at USTR and I also have ameeting tomorrow with the Dept. of Commerce where I will have an opportunity to raise this issue. When you are here in august I can schedule other meetings. I'll call again tomorrow so we can prepare some background information that will highlight our issues.
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