France Seeks Fast EU Check of Peugeot Help, Almunia Says

France has asked the European Union for speedy approval of loan guarantees for PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG), the EU’s antitrust chief said.

“The French government is asking us” for a “quick analysis,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s possible our conclusion will not be the conclusion anticipated by the French government.”

France asked the EU to review 7 billion euros ($9.4 billion) in French government guarantees to shore up its ailing finance arm. The government has said it doesn’t see the guarantees as state aid that would require an EU investigation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aoife White in Brussels at awhite62@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.