Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, has informed British MEP Anneliese Dodds that the Commission will not be investigating the sale of Formula One, which was completed in January, any further. There have been concerted attempts, condemned by the FIA as being “inaccurately informed or made maliciously” to try to disrupt the process, which Vestager was obviously keen to put a stop to it.
The Commissioner has ruled out their ability to investigate/authorise the transfer of ownership, she has not ruled out an investigation into the sport. The complaints submitted by the two F1 teams are still in play.
“In a response to a letter from me, the European Commission have clarified their inability to rule on the takeover of Formula One by Liberty Media,” Dodds said. “Nonetheless, there are still serious questions to be answered about the unfair allocation of prize money in the sport. The current system severely disadvantages the smallest teams and gives a lion’s share of the money to the biggest teams regardless of where they finish on the grid. I will continue to raise my competition concerns with the European Commission and keep pushing for a full follow-up of the complaints submitted to the Commission by Sauber and Force India. We have seen three instances of teams in my constituency struggling due to what they see as unfair competition in the Sport, with Manor Racing the latest team to fold. If we do not act now, more may follow. This could have a very worrying impact on highly-skilled engineering jobs in my constituency and in the Midlands.”
This problem will likely be sorted out by Liberty Media, as it changes the way things are done in Formula 1.
Dodds says that the European Commission is investigating the tax ruling which appears to have been agreed between HM Revenue and Customs and Formula One’s former owners.
“Any sweetheart deal that reduces the tax burden of only one company is state aid and must be taken seriously,” she says. “If such a deal breaks competition rules, I expect any unpaid tax to be duly collected by the British Government.”
If this were to happen, the money owed would presumably be owed by the previous owners and not the new ones. It is also not perhaps the best thing to do for Britain because if there is no tax deal on offer, the Formula One group could easily relocate to offshore locations, which would cost Britain jobs.
joeblogsf1 
Yes!! Hah, now there’s mud (of the riverbed variety, perhaps?) in yer eye!
I should add that when I wrote my above comment, only the first paragraph of this story existed. Still cheering news, though! Thanks, Joe.
More like the ubiquitous SNAFU of money talking /ruling the day while doing whats ethical and right taking a long hike off a very short pier .
FYI ; From the Department of Corrections . No sale of F1 to date has been ‘ completed ‘
As stated many times previously [ Business 101 ] .. the sale aint completed till the final check has been written , cashed and deposited . As of today the only aspects of the deal completed as per the contract in question has been the signing of the ‘ agreement ‘ and the transfer of Liberty stocks to CVC … with the remaining very sizable cash aspect still hanging in the balance as Liberty desperately scurries about trying to raise the funds to … C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E the deal . e.g. It aint over till its over and it aint over yet !
Finally. Let’s hope this is the end of the EU’s involvement in this sale. Let’s move on and see what Liberty can do with F1. Enough politics, let’s just race!
Thats some mighty fine wishful thinking on your part . Unfortunately knowing Liberty as I do this is only the precursor for ‘ political ‘ events to come when it comes to F1 . Suffice it to say nothing Liberty has had its grimy hands into over the past decade has come out on top . With the majority having been sunk into the depths of bankruptcy complete with a plethora of political intrigue and a whole lotta unethical business practices .
i might regret asking this, but here goes: such as?
The central question: Who stood to gain by halting the sale?
Guess who?
Bernie?
That’s why he asked – who?
Actually … who would benefit the most are the more contentious members of the EU hell bent on what they perceive as retribution for the UK’s BREXIT decision seeing as how the majority of teams etc are based in the UK and any damage done to F1 would most likely hurt the UK the most .
Nobody I speak with believes my assumption that moment the Brexohchit missile is fired, payback not trade will be the order of the day. (that’s the new hot air seeking arse to wallet multi poorhead weapon rushed into trial approval by Eurosham SE). Actually I am sure most people I talk to do believe this is going to be that destructive, but ain’t the whole political class just a apotheosis of denial in self induced PTSD decades now anyway..
No point in the EU investigating F1 corruption anyhow through any commission as the EU itself is not fit for purpose anyway.
Tiresome.
Anyone that sees the EU as a champion of transparency is way off the mark. It’s probably one of the most unaccountable supranational institutions out there. I’m not even going to get into how the whole thing, but the EU commission itself is filled with unelected people appointed for their own nefarious purposes.
Thanks, Vladamir. Any chance you could tell us your plans for the Ukraine now you’ve successfully mobilised the morons of west. Who’d of thought it, eh, 50 years of Soviet attempts to destroy the west and all you needed was a facebook account and millions of cretins.
Why we will suffer such recriminations is simple, but I only hinted at it above:
Imagine watching Titanic the movie, and at the point in the scene where young diCaprio is admit to the captain’s table, when talk rounds to the impregnability of the ship’s design, the naval architect stutters on on his convincing words, downs fork and slinks away, inquiry of a steward the direction to the nearest life raft…
England rather likes to accuse Germany and France of being Europe’s modern architects. There is some truth by inversion of the fact we were comparatively self absorbed, after the war, largely because unlike the devastated continent, we had no pressing dependency on foreign aide. (so we thought, but it was illusion of a hard Pound, created by Bretton Woods, literally a sop to soften payments to America giving cover for the to the grave expenses we agreed, i.e. serving the dominant player at those conferences. It unravelled swiftly, creating condition for our bailout by the IMF.) But it’s nonsense to suggest the Europe most here were born into, was not a creation of British and trans Atlantic desire. Sadly, in my view, it was that strategic priority which enabled carpet nagging economic policy to flourish, pro quo or under oversight of strategic policy, the same that has burdened our brothers and sisters with epochal financial strife.
In the year the cumulative age of my parents, were both alive, sums 200, i cannot escape deep shame at my country’s actions.
I instantly commented to anyone who would listen, that it was clear to me government intent was Leave, the inefficacy of the official campaign so transparent. But I am suspect also of bureaucratic indigence tantamount to gerrymandering.
Apologies grammar altered meaning, suspect should have been suspicious. Anyone know off – hand of a genuinely robust plugin for WordPress that enables a edit window of a few minutes? (i am aware that WP and databases are not a fun combination due to non existent architectural consideration widespread among development of and for WP, but instead of hitting the database a asynch worker function in the browser could provide both preview and edit buttons and commit the write after a interval. Hmm, added to my list to investigate now…)
By abdicating from European direct influence we condemn ourselves to accusation of complicity by election to not call out the corruption. The least we could have done, and out of duty to our closest relations, is dump the entirety of the indictment openly in the town square. So we can be seen to have reason. I never argued, one cannot argue against the reasons to quit, at that level. But what our government did, was to admit in the boldest statement of careless rejection of responsibility in modern political history, that our government allows they are incapable of positive engagement and without will nor means nor even force of morality to pursue the policy and aspirations this nation entrusted to them for fifty years. Our government just dispatched it’s power to the winds. Nothing good can follow such a action.
Neitzsche neatly defined the thoroughly corrupt being as one which insists on doing what is harmful to itself. I now don’t see corruption in society as the exception, because corruption can be shown all to easily to be the common denominator standard.
Yawn.
It looks like it’s just free trips to Disney Land for some from now on then, unlucky
“…the money owed would presumably be owed by the previous owners and not the new ones.”
That all very much depends on which corporate entity reached the agreement with HMRC. As Liberty seem to have bought all the shares of the parent holding company I suspect it will be Liberty’s mess, as Bernie would not have been so silly as to have Bambino or any private BCE-owned company on the hook like that. The whole point of limited companies is to limit liabilities to the company and indemnify owners. If the company failed to pay the tax then it is the company that will have to rectify, no matter whether or not the ownership of that company has changed. That is, rather, the whole point, and it is incumbent on new owners to do proper due diligence to uncover possible liabilities like that. If the old owners intentionally withheld or hid such information then there is a likely claim between the old and new owners, but that is none of HMRC’s business.
I never dived into it, but when my late business partner told me I ought to forget tax write – offs falling to the successor, in considering the price to pay for publications in composition of creditors, i dismantled the spreadsheet accordingly.
Without the shelves if reference required, i won’t claim to extrapolate the anecdotal evidence, but we were continuing the business as a going concern, merely consolidating debt for equity.
I habitually used to wait on morcels from the tables of too many edge cases, back then, so even my assumption may have been largely construed from abnormal case studies. This is where I don’t baulk at the accountants’ fees. Now if only i could remember the 1970 case before Companies’ Court handing a life bar from holding any directorship, on grounds absolute that deferral to a accountant for purpose of day to day management was admission of incompetence. How often have i heard especially smaller business directors at deal meetings telling me they must ask their accountant before understanding implications of what’s proposed… I thought first it was reflex bargaining by referral to second authority, but found my assumption to be naive, their need was profound.
But but but Joe. Christian said….. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
As you were real world. Thanks for your coverage.
Let’s see how many exclusives that particular chap has going forward.
World Champion onanist
..well you’d have to be, now that Bernie’s no longer around to give him a hand behind the scenes… ;p
I had to look “onanist” up. Going to use that word instead of the more common varieties now LOL!
Seems to me, somebody skipped Sunday school 😉
I’m sure they are more than happy to get this off their plate…
It was never on the plate…
Joe Saward wrote “….It is also not perhaps the best thing to do for Britain because if there is no tax deal on offer, the Formula One group could easily relocate to offshore locations, which would cost Britain jobs.”
How many jobs? Most of their financial transactions are/will be “offshore” since Liberty is an American holding company. Of course one of the many advantages of Brexit, is that we can do this type of deal, without the dead hand of Brussels.
True. But Brexit hasn’t happened yet
I know of one website that won’t be reporting this news, unlike the screaming headline that started it all off.
Seems a so called journalist got the wrong envelope.
According to “news” reports promulgated today, probably by Mr. Precipitate (engage thesaurus now for both meanings), we have misinterpreted the letter from Vestager and the deal should still be questioned. The quotations are apparently from Dodds’ lackey, which throws into question who is in whose pocket and where rests the biggest quantum of undue influence. The FIA could have an “unclean hands” argument if it comes to that.
The used car salesman should quit Doddering about, amble off to a billionaire’s dotage and allow us to watch the racing in peace.
The man is an idiot