Brussels, 20/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 20 November, the European Commission informed a number of heavy and medium-duty truck producers (statement of objections) that it suspects them of having participated in a cartel. It suspects that certain heavy and medium-duty truck producers may have agreed or coordinated their pricing behaviour in the European Economic Area.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, said that “a number of companies” were suspected of having participated in a cartel, which was “mainly active 10 years ago but still exists”. “If the accusations are founded, we are looking at a serious infringement of the competition rules”, she said. Cartels and restrictive commercial practices are against article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and article 53 of the EEA agreement.
The Commissioner said that it would be “very difficult” to conclude agreements with the parties implicated, stressing that she may call for fines. If the investigations provide confirmation, the cartel would affect mainly small businesses, Vestager stated, as it has the effect of keeping road transport costs high.
In January 2011, the Commission confirmed that it had carried out unannounced inspections in the truck building sector.
The statement of objections is a formal stage in the investigations carried out by the Commission into suspected infringements of EU rules regarding cartels and abuses of dominant position. The Commission informs the parties concerned in writing of the objections raised against them. The recipients are allowed to examine documents in the Commission's dossier, respond in writing and ask for a hearing in order to give Commission representatives and the national competition authorities their observations on the matter. If, once the parties have exercised their defence rights, the Commission concludes that there is sufficient evidence of an infringement, it can issue a decision prohibiting the conduct and impose a fine of up to 10% of a company's annual worldwide turnover. (LC)