Brussels, 11/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice against the annulment by the Court of First Instance of an EUR 3 million fine that it had imposed on the German pharmaceuticals group Bayer for unduly restricting parallel exports of the cardio-vascular drug, Adalat.
In a press release, the Commission said it had proved that Bayer had entered into an agreement with its French and Spanish wholesalers to prohibit re-exports of Adalat into the UK, where prices were considerably higher. It considers the standard of proof of Bayer's anti-competitive action was sufficient and that the Court of First Instance, by not taking this into account, raised the standard required by the established case-law. The Commission calls upon the Court of Justice for clarification. It considers such clarification is important for the future of its policy of ensuring a single market for pharmaceuticals and other goods, such as cars, in Europe.
The Commission also confirms that, pending this clarification, it plans to continue its policy aimed at "challenging agreements between a manufacturer and his distributors, e.g. supply quota arrangements, which partition the Common Market along national lines".
On 26 October last, the Court of First Instance had cancelled the fine that the Commission had imposed on Bayer on 10 January 1996 for the unlawful concerted agreement between the German group and its wholesalers. The European judges believe the Commission was not able to prove the wholesalers had agreed to the German group's policy for hindering parallel imports (see EUROPE of 28 October 2000, p.12).
EUROPE also recalls that, in 1996, in an interim ruling, the president of the Court of First Instance, Antonio Saggio, had authorised Bayer to pursue its European strategy for selling the drug Adalat until the Court of First Instance had given its opinion on the substance of the case (See EUROPE of 8 June, 1996, p.7).