The European Court of First Instance has dismissed an action by Peugeot challenging an October 2005 European Commission decision fining Peugeot for obstructing exports of new cars between 1997 and 2003 from The Netherlands to consumers living in other Member States. The CFI upheld the decision, but reduced the fine from €49.5m to €44.55m because the Commission had adequately considered role that price differentials had […]
Category Archives: EU News
EC Inspects Special Glass Sector
July 10, 2009 – 10:07 am
The European Commission confirmed that on March 4, 2009, it inspected firms in the special glass sector. These products are used for commercial and industrial optics and electronics. The companies involved were not disclosed
EC Imposed First Energy Secter Fines on German & French Pipeline Operators
July 9, 2009 – 4:15 am
The European Commission has fined Germany’s E.ON AG and it subsidiary €553m each and on France’s GDF Suez SA for sharing markets. The parties had agreed in 1975, when they decided to jointly build the MEGAL pipeline to import Russian gas into Germany and France, that they would not sell gas transported over this pipeline in each other’s home markets. They […]
Lufthansa Offers Competition Fixes In EC Takeover Probe
June 17, 2009 – 4:45 pm
The European Commission has extended its review of Lufthansa AG’s bid to take over the largely state-owned Austrian Airlines AG because the airlines have offered concessions to handle the regulator’s competition concerns over a deal that calls for Austria to take on a significant share of the airline’s debt. When the EC initially opened its […]
EU Challenge to Visa Merchant Fees
June 16, 2009 – 2:08 pm
Just two months after, it was accused of exploiting a dominant position with respect to cross-border interchange fees, a report has surfaced that the EC will challenge Visa’s merchant fees more broadly.
EC’s Microsoft Investigation
June 15, 2009 – 12:10 pm
The EC has taken note of Microsoft‘s plan to offer a version of Windows 7 in the EU without Internet Explorer. The Commission said that it would soon determine whether Microsoft’s tying of the two from 1996 to date constituted an abusive of its dominant position. The U.S. Courts have previously determined that many aspects of Microsoft’s conduct relating to IE violated […]
Claim Buying Firm Launches Follow-on Suit in the Hydrogen Peroxide Cartel Litigation
April 27, 2009 – 2:19 pm
A Brussels-based private group and arm of the Belgian CDC that seeks private damages for cartel victims in Europe – Cartel Damage Claims Hydrogen Peroxide SA (CDC) – has launched a suit in regional court of first instance for Dusseldorf, Germany, against six alleged members of an international hydrogen peroxide cartel that has already been the targetof landmark fines from […]
EC Investigates Dutch Loans to Fortis Bank
April 20, 2009 – 6:39 pm
The EC has launched an investigation into the Netherland’s loaning tens of billions of euros to Fortis Bank Nederland, because of concerns that the low interest rates would distort competition across the EU. The EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes stated that even though the Dutch state could intervene to prevent the bankruptcy of Fortis Bank Nederland, “the commission has […]
EC Opens Investigations of Airline Transatlantic Routes
April 20, 2009 – 2:40 pm
The EC has opened two investigations seeking to determine whether cooperation among airlines on transatlantic routes constitutes restrictive business practices. The first investigation focuses on existing and planned cooperation among four current or prospective members of the Star Alliance – Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa and United. The second will examine proposed cooperation between three members of the Oneworld alliance – American […]
EC Issues Statement of Objections re: Visa Multilateral Interchange Fees
April 7, 2009 – 2:06 pm
In the continuing saga of the EC’s battle over interchange fees with Visa and MasterCard, the Commission has followed up its tentative settlement with MasterCard with a new Statement of Objections to Visa stating its preliminary view that Visa’s unilateral setting of multilateral interchange fees 1) restrict competition between banks to gain merchant acceptance business and 2) fail to advance technical and […]