=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2001/12/14/f= inancial1050EST0045.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, December 14, 2001 (AP) EU gives Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines six-year antitrust exemption on partn= ership (12-14) 07:50 PST BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union said Friday it intends to give Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Austrian Airlines AG a six-year antitrust exemption for their partnership after the two companies resolved concerns about reduced competition. The EU's executive commission had warned in May that the partnership was likely to create a "quasi-monopoly" on air travel between the two neighbors and could not be cleared as proposed. The airlines then agreed on steps to aid smaller carriers, including making airport slots available to newcomers and measures to prevent them from being undercut or squeezed out of a market shortly after entry. "The undertakings offered will create the conditions for entry of rival airlines on routes between Germany and Austria," the EU's executive commission said in announcing its intention to grant the exemption, the longest possible under EU rules. A similar partnership between Austrian Airlines and SAS is still under review. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 AP