Merkel, Barroso say EU treaty strengthens market

...Commission's powers to regulate competition, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso played down the removal of "free and undistorted" competition from the aims of the EU, which French President Nicolas Sarkozy could make it easier to build European industrial champions.

"It has been restructured, it hasn't been devalued," Merkel told a news conference. "Since the free market is mentioned and the internal market is mentioned throughout this mandate, I think we can say there has been no change."

Barroso said: "From a legal point of view, the Commission's competences were not undermined ... They are now even clearer."

Keywords: EU TREATY/MARKET