EU competition chief Joaquin Almunia said on Friday that he was "closely following" efforts in Italy to stop French dairy group Lactalis gaining control of Parmalat, to ensure there are no unjustified barriers to a deal. Last month, Italy's centre-right government cleared a special decree allowing dairy company Parmalat (PLT.MI) to delay a shareholders' meeting until June, giving the country's biggest listed food group more time to find domestic investors. The meeting, originally scheduled for April 12-14, would have allowed world's third-largest dairy company, Lactalis, to take control of the Parmalat board. [ID:nLDE7301C1] EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he was determined to use EU merger rules against national authorities that put up unjustified obstacles to cross-border mergers.
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