(BERLIN) - A German regional government chief hit out Saturday at European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, accusing him of spending too much time on the golf course, in a row over the future of Volkswagen.

Lower Saxony leader Christian Wulff said McCreevy, the internal market commissioner, was determined to kill legislation that protects Europe's biggest carmaker from takeover but has also incurred the wrath of Brussels.

Wulff made the comments in Saturday's Muenchner Merkur daily, the day after the upper house of the federal parliament passed a revised version of the original 1960 law following a ruling by the EU's top court last year.

The new draft effectively maintains a right of veto by the German state of Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is based and which owns around 20 percent of the company, over strategic decisions like plant relocations.

Minority stakeholders in most German groups must own 25 percent of their equity to hold similar power.

The difference has created a dispute between VW, trade unions and German officials on one side, and the EU Commission and luxury sports car maker Porsche, which wants to take over VW and already directly owns 42.6 percent, on the other.

The EU Commission on Thursday threatened to refer the matter back to the European Court of Justice again "in the absence of a satisfactory reply from Germany within two months."

"Instead of spending his time on the golf course (McCreevy) would do better to attend meetings in Brussels or fighting for his country Ireland to accept the European Constitution," Wulff charged.

He deplored the fact that the commission had not waited for the vote in parliament before issuing its warning and charged that it had not "carefully examined" the modified law.

He said the new legislation "followed to the letter" the ruling of the EU court, and added that Lower Saxony's 20 percent blocking minority was "clearly allowed by German law."

Porsche also asked a German court to approve modified statutes that would allow the sports car maker to overcome the virtual veto held by Lower Saxony but the court rejected that petition on Thursday.

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