The Bundeskartellamt has prohibited the municipality of Mettmann from assigning the rights of way for the operation of the electricity and gas network "in-house" to its subsidiary without a transparent and non-discriminatory procedure.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "The licence holder needs to be chosen under the aspect that he can ensure a secure, affordable, consumer-friendly, efficient and environmentally safe supply. The financial interests of the municipalities must not come first in this selection process."

The municipality of Mettmann had first launched a Europe-wide award procedure in which it sought a cooperation partner willing to have a minority share in its envisaged new municipal utility. It was planned that the municipal utility should then be awarded the concession for the electricity and gas networks without a further selection procedure. Competitors that were only interested in the concession would therefore have been excluded from the procedure, even if they were able to operate the network more efficiently and with greater benefit to consumers. Although concessions are supposed to be awarded to the applicant who is able to ensure the most efficient network operation, the municipality of Mettmann chose the option that was best for its financial interests.

On 15.12.2010, the Bundeskartellamt and the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) published joint guidelines for the award of gas and electricity concessions and network leasing which contain specifications on how to award a concession in a competitive and non-discriminatory manner.
The Bundeskartellamt has recently concluded abuse proceedings against the municipality of Pulheim by way of a commitment decision. The municipality of Pulheim has pledged to rerun its selection procedure in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner, with due consideration of the principles laid down in the joint guidelines of the Bundeskartellamt and the Bundesnetzagentur.

The Bundeskartellamt is also monitoring a number of current or imminent selection procedures in several major cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Leipzig) to make sure that the selection criteria are non-discriminatory and that only competitive and consumer-related objectives for the network operation are considered in the selection process.

The municipality of Mettmann can appeal against the ruling to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.

The Bundeskartellamt's decision in this matter will soon be published on the authority's website in a non-confidential version.