Brussels, 29/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - A number of appeals have been brought before the Court of First Instance by producers of copper pipes against their penalties for illegal agreement in 2004. Of the eight companies in question, four have formally lodged an appeal. Their pleas are being heard this week.
In September 2004, the Commission decided to impose fines of a total of €222.3 million on a group of companies which formed a cartel on the European market for water piping and gas and oil conduits, a market which represented some €1.15 billion in 2000, the last complete year during which the cartel was in action. The groups in question are Boliden of Sweden (fined €32.6 million), the Greek Chalkor (then "Halcor") (€9.16 million), the Dutch HME Nederland (€4.49 million), IMI of the UK (€44.9 million), the group KME (Germany, France and Italy, €67.08 million), the American Mueller Industries and its British and French subsidiaries (no fine), the Finnish Outokumpu (€36.14 million) and Germany's Wieland Werke (€27.841 million). Of the companies fined, Boliden, Outokumpu, Chalkor and KME brought the matter before the Court of First Instance to have their fine reduced or cancelled.
Boliden and Outokumpu had their arguments heard on Tuesday 28 October (joint cases T-19/05 and T-20/05). These companies assert that their involvement in the cartel was limited for a considerable period, and that the reduction of their fine does not correspond to their level of cooperation with the Commission's investigations. The argument put forward by Chalkor in its hearing on Thursday 30 October is that it took part in the cartel passively and reluctantly, and without implementing it on Greek territory (T-21/05). KME, whose separate hearing takes place on the same day, said that the Commission had vastly overestimated its market share and thus the impact of the cartel. KME also states that the Commission should have taken account of its financial situation, jeopardised by another fine in a similar case on the industrial tube market (T-25/05). (C.D./transl.fl)