The European Commission will not hesitate to open an investigation if it even suspects that control of most of the capital and of the company’s management leaves the hands of "nationals of a country of the European Union."
The Commission currently is monitoring the sale process of TAP and will act if it suspects that at any point in the process, the control the majority of the capital and of the decision process of the company leaves European control.
"An airline registered in the European Union must be controlled at least 50% by nationals of the European Union," according to Jakub Adamowicz, the European Commission Transport spokesman.
"We are watching to see if European control of the company is real or if it only is apparent. It really has to be a company controlled by Europeans," said Adamovicz.
If the actual control is held by Gateway's David Neeleman, a non-European, Brussels will be faced with a situation that falls outside European rules and it will then be mandatory for Portugal to revoke the airline’s carrier license.
Neeleman’s Gateway consortium which won the bidding for 61% of TAP's share capital, includes Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa whose value now is in fronting the management and control of TAP, but Brusssels is suspicious that Pedrosa is a front for Neeleman who has long experience in running airlines: Pedrosa's experience is in running coach, rail and metro companies owned by his company Barraqueiro.
Pedrosa has been backing the bid by Miguel País do Amaral who pulled out as he wanted more time to consider the impact of the pilots strike's on TAP's 2015 profits. He now has a controlling shareholding in Gateway but it widely is assumed that Neeleman runs the show.
"The first entity which has to take responsibility is the Portuguese government. It is the Portuguese government that issues the license for the operation of TAP Portugal and which has the primary responsibility of regulating the company, but of course we are ready to monitor the situation," said the spokesman.
Paulo Portas, Portugal’s Deputy Prime Minister, said today that "the private management of TAP makes the company, which is strategically important for Portugal, freer and less dependent on union leaders convening unacceptable strikes."
In a clear swipe at the recent TAP pilots strike which cost an estimated €35 million in turnover, Portas suggested that unions go on strike in state owned companies because they think someone always will pay the bill.
Portas said that now TAP is under private management "people have to think twice before calling a strike. This is better for customers, the company and its pilots.”
Added to Brussels looking at Neeleman's non-European lineage, he is from Dutch and American parents but claims Brazilan and American nationality, there is the threat posed by the Socialist Party which, if it wins this year's general election, has pledged to tear up the TAP deal and retain 51% of the shares on behalf of a grateful nation.
