Italian gov't ends freeze on EDF voting rights in Edison

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2005

ROME (AFP) — The Italian government adopted a decree ending a freeze on the voting rights of French electricity group EDF in the Italian energy firm Edison.

"The decree has been approved," an industry ministry spokesman said Friday.

EDF owns an 18 percent stake in Italenergia Bis, the holding company that controls 62 percent of Edison, and has a 2.34 percent interest in Edison.

But Italian authorities since 2001 have blocked EDF's voting rights at just two percent, claiming the French energy sector is not sufficiently open to competition.

EDF was to hold a special board meeting Friday to assess its future as a stakeholder in Edison.

Ministerial sources said the decree contained three conditions.

The decision, which modifies existing...