MNI BRIEF: EC To Take Tougher Stand On CMU Enforcement

The European Commission stands ready to take a more confrontational approach towards any member state which uses domestic laws to hinder the EU's Savings and Investment Union, Financial Services Commissioner Maria Albuquerque told reporters on the margins of an EU finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg. 

The comments followed a report overnight that the EC would open an infringement procedure against Italy's "golden power" law which allows it to block foreign takeovers of companies deemed to be of strategic importance. 

But the commissioner said that the move was not just about Italy, signalling that the EC was ready to take a more assertive approach than in the past to enforcing EU laws aimed at enhancing European competitiveness. (See MNI INTERVIEW: ECB Should Not Ease French Bond Woes - Papadia)