Brussels, 04/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - A single meeting between competitive undertakings may constitute a breach of Community competition law, the EU Court of Justice stated on Thursday 4 June. As long as there is a causal connection between the consultation and the market conduct of the undertakings participating at the meeting, there is no need to show repeated or long-term dealing between companies for the authorities to condemn those companies for concerted practice (Case C-8/08).
The Court thus answers questions for a preliminary ruling raised by the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven (Administrative Court for Trade and Industry) in an appeal case raised by five Dutch mobile telephone operators. On 30 December 2002, the Raad van bestuur van de Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit (Netherlands authority responsible for competition) had found these operators guilty of taking part in a meeting on 13 June 2001 during which they had concluded an anti-competitive agreement.
In its ruling on Thursday, the Court of Justice considers that a single meeting may constitute unlawful concerted practice, if it is likely to have an adverse effect on competition.
This would happen if the meeting gives rise to an agreement which results in practical cooperation between the companies which eliminates risks of competition, including, as in the case in hand, if this relates to the remuneration paid to dealers for concluding post-paid subscription agreements. The Court thus dismisses the companies' arguments, namely that the agreement did not have a direct effect on the price paid by end-users, and that a single meeting was not likely to constitute unlawful practice. The companies concerned are: Ben Nederland BV (now T-Mobile), KPN, Dutchtone NV (now Orange), Libertel-Vodafone NV (now Vodafone) and Telfort Mobile BV (subsequently 02 [Netherlands] BV and now Telfort). The affair has now been referred back to the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven. (C.D./transl.jl)