Boeing Merger Faces Unfavorable Ec Vote

The European Commission has doubts it can approve Boeing Co.’s planned acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp. in the wake of the U.S. aircraft manufacturer’s move to set up exclusive supply agreements with major airlines, a commission official said Tuesday.

Those agreements are unacceptable and will create problems in winning European antitrust approval, according to Karel Van Miert, the European Commission’s competition commissioner.

“We can’t see how the commission could possibly consider giving its agreement with such exclusive contracts in place,” Van Miert said.