BERLIN, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Following the approval of German energy company RWE's takeover of E.ON's energy generation assets and trading business, more than ten smaller energy providers in Germany filed an action for annulment with the European Court of Justice (EJC) on Wednesday.
The German energy providers argued in a joint statement that the approval of the deal by the European Commission as well as the German national competition regulator Bundeskartellamt in September 2019 was "clearing the way for two national champions at the expense of medium-sized companies."
"This deal is associated with considerable disadvantages for competition and thus for all consumers," the joint statement read.
Central to the deal is an asset swap between RWE and E.ON, two German electric utility companies, valued at more than 40 billion euros (44 billion U.S. dollars). With the merger, E.ON acquired networks and sales divisions and became one of Europe's largest suppliers of electricity and gas.
In return, RWE took over renewables and once again became a producer of energy from nuclear, coal and gas plants, as well as wind and solar power.
The plaintiffs fear that the "reorganization of the German energy market" as envisaged by RWE and E.ON would eliminate the participation of other suppliers, according to the joint statement.
Although the joint lawsuit at the EJC does not have any immediate effect on the approved restructuring of the RWE and E.ON, the lawsuit announced on Wednesday presents an additional legal risk for the two energy giants.
Despite the COVID-19 crisis, both RWE and E.ON had reported increased revenues and earnings for the first quarter of 2020. On Thursday, E.ON is excepted to present more detailed plans about the restructuring and future plans on its annual general meeting. Enditem
