Brussels, 24/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 24 June, the Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, announced two decisions of the European Commission on cartels: - fines of a total of €115,865,000 have been handed down to eight manufacturers and two distributors of retail food packaging; - a statement of objections has been sent to five lead recycling companies in the car battery sector.
In the first of these cases, the Commission noted that eight manufacturers (Huhtamäki of Finland, Nespak and Vitembal of France, Silver Plastics of Germany, Coopbox, Magic Pack and Sirap-Gema of Italy and Linpac of the United Kingdom) and two distributors (Ovarpack of Portugal and Propack of the United Kingdom) of retail food packaging had been involved in five separate cartels.
These companies fixed prices and allocated customers on the market for polystyrene foam or polypropylene rigid trays, both used for the packaging of foods sold in shops or supermarkets for products such as cheese, meat, fish and cakes.
The first cartel was on the market for both types of packaging in north-western Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden). The companies which participated in the cartel during various periods between 2002 and 2007 are Linpac, Vitembal, Huhtamäki and Silver Plastics. The second cartel was in the market for polystyrene foam trays in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). During various periods from 2004 to 2007, Linpac, Sirap-Gema, Coopbox and Propack were involved in this cartel. The third cartel was for polystyrene foam trays in south-western Europe (Portugal and Spain) and the companies involved during various periods between 2000 and 2008 were Linpac, Vitembal, Huhtamäki, Coopbox and Ovaparck. The fourth cartel was for polystyrene foam trays in France. Linpac, Vitembal, Huhtamäki and Sirap-Gema all participated between September 2004 and November 2005 and Silver Plastics between June and October 2005. Lastly, the fifth cartel was in the market for polystyrene foam trays in Italy, involving Linpac, Sirap-Gema, Coopbox, Vitembal, Nespak and Magic Pack for various periods between 2002 and 2007.
Each of the cartels was implemented in the framework of multilateral and bilateral contacts, which generally took place on the sidelines of legitimate sector meetings. In some of the cartels, the participants referred to their illegal contacts as 'the Mafia' or 'the club'.
Despite being the only company to have taken part in every one of these cartels, Linpac received full immunity as it was the first company to reveal the existence of the cartels. It thereby avoids a fine of €145 million. The other companies' fines were reduced as they cooperated with the Commission's investigations. Additionally, the institution took account of the lesser involvement of Magic Pack and Silver Plastics in the cartels. Three of the companies invoked their inability to pay the fine. Following analysis, the Commission granted reductions to two companies and rejected one application.
“When a company comes forward and says that they are not able to pay, we need to look thoroughly if this is justified. We want to penalise the behaviour, the point is not to kill the company, we try to keep this balance”, Vestager explained at a press conference.
Statement of objections. On Wednesday, the Commission also informed five lead recycling companies that it suspected them of having taken part in a cartel for the purchase of scrap lead-acid batteries. In Europe, practically all lead-acid batteries are recycled once they are no longer used. The recycling companies by the scrap batteries from various suppliers and extract the lead from them, which can then be used to make new products.
The Commission suspects these five companies, which it has declined to name for the time being, of having taken part in a cartel between 2009 and 2012 aiming to set the purchase prices for this scrap in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It alleges that these companies agreed on prices or coordinated their price practices solely to ensure higher profit margins. Consequently, these companies may have lowered the prices paid to scrap dealers, many of which are SMEs. This conduct, it explains, could ultimately be to the detriment of the sellers, as it would likely reduce the value of used batteries sold for scrap. (Elodie Lamer)