F1: Belgian MEP asks European Commission to investigate Liberty Media
10/13/2024 03:54 AM
The inquiry to the EU Commission
Belgian Member of the European Parliament Pascal Arimont, from the Christian Social Party (European People’s Party Group), submitted a written question this week to the European Commission regarding Liberty Media Corporation's activities in the field of competition.
Pascal Arimont has called for an investigation to "protect consumers and ensure fair competition in the market." The focus, as is well known, is on Liberty Media's concentration of much of motorsport. At the end of 2016, the American communications giant acquired Formula One Group, which holds the commercial rights to F1 until the end of 2110, and subsequently also acquired F2 and F3, eventually securing the majority stake (86%) in MotoGP, for which it is only awaiting approval from various Antitrust authorities.
In addition to this, Pascal Arimont included in his document an observation on F1's rejection of Andretti-Cadillac's entry: “The commercial agreements make it very difficult for new teams to enter, perhaps illegally limiting competition," referring to the identical investigation launched in the United States.
Margrethe Vestager (European Commissioner for Competition) now has 6 weeks to respond to the Belgian MEP's request.
Previous cases
The Belgian newspaper *Het Belang van Limburg* also recalled how Europe had targeted F1's management on two previous occasions. The first was in December 1997, aimed at countering Bernie Ecclestone's dominant position, and the second was in 2006. The latter was particularly significant, as the European Union forced CVC Capital to sell its MotoGP shares in order to proceed with the purchase of Formula 1.
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