A rearguard action is being fought by the European Commission to save its ambitious proposals to impose a deadline of 2005 on the complete liberalisation of the EU electricity market. Following pressure from the French government, EU governments have agreed to rule the idea out, preferring a looser deadline, although this has yet to be formally agreed at the Council of Ministers. But the defensive position from Paris -usually the Member State with least enthusiasm about liberalisation -has sparked anger in Brussels. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has said: "I personally am concerned to see this tendency by Member States to seek unanimous consent even in areas where the Treaty foresees qualified majority voting. This puts a brake to the creation of a truly single market."
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