Brussels, 14/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 March, the European Commission invited comments from interested parties on the commitments offered by Siemens and Areva to meet concerns that they may have infringed EU antitrust rules. In 2001, Areva and Siemens created the joint venture Areva NP and agreed on a non-compete obligation. The obligation was meant to apply for 11 years after the end of the joint venture itself, but this was reduced to four years when, in 2009, Areva acquired sole control of Areva NP.
Concerning the markets for Areva NP's core products and services, the Commission concluded in its preliminary assessment that the non-compete clause is excessive because it prevents competition by Siemens for a period exceeding three years following Areva's acquisition of sole control over Areva NP. Markets for Areva NP's core products and services include nuclear islands, nuclear services and nuclear fuel assembling. The Commission's preliminary assessment also focused on markets for Areva NP's non-core products and services. These are markets where, during the lifetime of the joint venture, Areva NP was not active with its own products or accepted sales by Siemens. Here the Commission concluded that the non-compete obligation in its entirety breaches EU antitrust rules insofar as it applies after Siemens' exit from the joint venture.
To address these concerns, Siemens and Areva committed to reduce both the product scope and the duration of the non-compete obligation. The companies offered to limit the non-compete obligation for all Areva NP core products and services to a period of three years after Siemens' exit from the joint venture, and to remove it completely for non-core products and services. The same commitments apply for the confidentiality clause agreed between the two parties insofar as it has the same effects as the non-compete obligation. If the consultation shows that these commitments would remove the competition concerns, the Commission may decide to make them legally binding. (FG/transl.fl)