10 September 2008

Thomas Cook loses Ã&#pound;518 million compensation claim

The European Commission will not have to pay compensation to Thomas Cook for wrongly blocking Mytravel's proposed takeover of First Choice in September 1999.

Mytravel, now owned by Thomas Cook, had been seeking to claim Ã&#pound;518 million in damages after being told by the European Court of First Instance that EC competition authorities had been wrong to disallow the takeover.

But yesterday the CFI, Europeââ¬â¢s second highest court, ruled that the mistake was not enough to make the EC liable to pay out compensation.

It said money would only be paid out in cases where it ââ¬Åâœmanifestly and gravely infringedââ¬~ EU law, but this was not the case in this instance.

Thomas Cook has two months to appeal against the decision.

In a statement today, it said it was disappointed with the decision "which insultates the EC from the consequences of its wrongful conduct".

It stressed that the decision will not affect the Thomas Cook Group, which had not assumed in its budget and forecasts that any compenstion woud be received.


By Bev Fearis

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