Luxembourg, 27/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of First Instance has confirmed the European Commission's decision of 5 December 2001 that Danone and breweries Interbrew and Alken-Maes, at the time a subsidiary of Danone, was part of a cartel contrary to EU law in the Belgian beer markets. The Court of First Instance does not, however, accept the allegation of aggravating circumstances against Danone and reduced its fine from EUR 44.043 million to EUR 42.41 mil.
The alleged aggravating circumstances are connected with the fact Danone is alleged to have threatened Belgian brewer Interbrew that it would force it out of the French market if it refused to give Danone a 500,000 hectolitre sales quota on the Belgian markets. The Court of First Instance said the Commission had not provided sufficient evidence of a direct link between the threat and Interbrew's anti-competitive behaviour (see EUROPE 8107).