The European Commission yesterday decided to take Spain to court over its use of so-called "golden shareholdings" to stop foreign takeovers of Spanish businesses.

Commission believes the use of privileged "golden" minority shares held by governments in private companies contravenes the EU's founding treaty, which enshrines the free movement of capital. It takes the same view of legislation that restricts takeovers by foreign companies. The decision came in spite of the intervention of Loyola de Palacio, the EU's Spanish energy commissioner, who called for the legal action to be postponed until policy on the "golden share" issue could be debated further.