The European Commission has called for a full investigation into the causes of a blackout that left swathes of western Europe without power at the weekend.

The comments of Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs came after German electricity firm E.ON admitted that it was to blame for the power cut.

E.ON said its grid had overloaded after it temporarily switched off an electricity line in northern Germany.

E.ON said the offending power line crossed over the river Ems and was turned off to allow a cruise ship to safely pass through.

The knock-on power cut left millions without electricity across Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Now, here’s a really thoughtful apology.

“I am grateful that the situation was not worse than it turned out, because E.ON caused it,” said E.ON board member Klaus-Dieter Maubach.

Mr Maubach added that European grid operators enjoyed good co-operation, meaning Saturday night’s power cuts only lasted for about an hour.

Saturday’s power cut started in the German city of Cologne before quickly spreading.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Croatia were also affected, with the cuts even reaching as far as Morocco.

Obviously, these companies need direction from someone with experience managing wide area electricity distribution. Isn’t there someone from Enron we could send them?