Brussels - The European Union's executive has raided former French power monopoly EDF, suspecting it of breaking the EU's rules on fair trading, officials in Brussels confirmed Wednesday.

The European Commission "has reason to believe that EDF may have violated (EU) antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position ... The suspected illegal conduct may include actions to raise prices on the French wholesale electricity market," the Brussels-based body said in a statement.

However, the fact that the raids were launched on Tuesday does not mean that the largely state-owned EDF is necessarily guilty of abusing its market position, the statement said.

The commission has long been struggling to open up member states' electricity markets to more competition in the face of fierce resistance from former monopoly holders.

On February 2 the commission's consumer-affairs division announced that it would launch a probe into the retail electricity market. (dpa)