Brussels, 12/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 July, the General Court of the European Union cancelled the fines imposed by the European Commission on the Japanese groups Mitsubishi and Toshiba for their participation in a cartel on the market for gas insulated switchgear (GIS), while maintaining the fine of €50.4 million imposed on Hitachi and reducing the fine on Fuji from €2.4 million to €2.2 million.
On 24 January 2007, the Commission had imposed fines on 20 European and Japanese companies for their understandings on the GIS market. The total amount of fines was €750.71 million, with the largest fines being on Mitsubishi and Toshiba (€118.58 and €90.9 million respectively). The Commission found that an unwritten understanding had been concluded between the Japanese and European companies from 1988 and 2004 with a view to sharing the respective GIS markets. Without questioning the existence of the cartel, the General Court said that: “In so far as the Commission did not use the same reference year for Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba (2001) and the European undertakings (2003), the Court finds that the Commission did not treat the Japanese producers and the European producers equally”. The Court notes that the Commission had proceeded in that manner in order to take account of the fact that, for most of the period of infringement, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba participated in the cartel as individual undertakings, and not as part of their joint venture, TM T&D Corp. The turnover used for calculating the fine amounts had been calculated for the year that preceded the creation of TM T&D Corp. The General Court therefore rules that the Commission had “infringed the principle of equal treatment”, a press release states. The General Court, however, confirmed the Commission's decision that the “Japanese undertakings participated in the unwritten understanding and, consequently, in the cartel”. It underlines that “the existence of an unwritten understanding is proved directly by the statements of several undertakings involved in the cartel and by the witness statements of the employees of one of those undertakings”. The amount of the fine imposed on Fuji has been reduced due to the fact that the General Court found the Commission had not taken into account the aid provided by the Japanese group that had provided the Commission with “essential information relating to the cartel”. (J.K./transl.jl)