The European Commission announced on Monday 31 July that it had expressed concerns in a preliminary notice to the firms concerned that the French fashion house Pierre Cardin and its licensee, the German clothing manufacturer Ahlers, may have infringed EU antitrust rules by restricting cross-border sales of Pierre Cardin licensed clothing and sales of these products to specific customers.
On 22 June 2021, the Commission carried out unannounced inspections of the clothing manufacturing and distribution sector on its own initiative.
The institution then opened a formal investigation on 31 January 2022, suspecting a cartel between Pierre Cardin and Ahlers to restrict the ability of other Pierre Cardin licensees and their customers to sell Pierre Cardin licensed clothing and goods in the European Economic Area, particularly in relation to retailers offering lower prices to consumers, both online and offline.
The European Commission believes that the purpose of this coordination, if confirmed, would have been to guarantee Ahlers absolute territorial protection in the countries covered by its licensing agreements with Pierre Cardin in the EEA.
If confirmed, this behaviour would constitute a breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement, which prohibit anti-competitive agreements between undertakings.
Link to case: https://aeur.eu/f/8am (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)