The EU Court of Justice affirmed a €24 million ($31.7 million) antitrust fine against recycling firm Tomra Systems ASA. The European Commission had found that the company used a system of exclusivity agreements with large retailers to restrain potential entrants into the market for automated machines that dispense cash in exchange for empty bottles. The EC also alleged that the defendant employed rebates and quantity targets essentially forcing retailers to use Tomra machines exclusively.
“Rebates and discounts,” then-Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes explained when the initial fine was impose, “cannot be used by a dominant company as part of a strategy to exclude actual and potential competitors.”