Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)

Welcome back Mr Badertscher







Reinforcing bar cartel decision re-adopted by Commission

View original document | Send to colleague | Print | Suggest a topic (new)
Hammonds LLP
European Union
October 31 2009

The Commission has announced that it has re-adopted the decision which saw eight cartel participants fined over €83 million. This decision follows the annulment of its previous decision by the Court of First Instance due to procedural irregularities.    

The original cartel decision imposed fines on Alfa Acciai, Ferriere Nord, Feralpi, IRO, Leali, Lucchini, Riva Fire and Valsabbia for fixing prices in the reinforcing bars sector in Italy from December 1989 to May 2000. However, this decision was adopted on the basis of the expired European Coal and Steel Community Treaty and could not, therefore, stand as the legal foundation of the Commission’s decision. As a consequence the Commission has made a new decision based on the current competition regime.

With one exception, all of the fines imposed are the same as those in the 2002 decision and the Commission was keen to stress that this case sends a clear message to cartel participants that they cannot escape fines for procedural reasons.

Diarmuid Ryan

Diarmuid Ryan

Tom S. Pick

Tom S. Pick

Popular related articles

  1. Parties cannot avoid Commercial Agents Regulations by choice of non-EU law and arbitration (Herbert Smith LLP)

    In Accentuate v Asigra [2009] EWHC 2655 (QB) the English High Court held it had jurisdiction to hear a claim for compensation under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, even though the relevant agreement was subject to a choice of Canadian law and arbitration and the Canadian arbitral tribunal had already ruled against the claim.

  2. You don't need to be prompt, just don't be too late (MacRoberts)

    On 28 January, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down its judgment in Uniplex (UK) Ltd (Uniplex) v NHS Business Services Authority (NHS) (C-406/08).

  3. C-311/08 SGI – transfer pricing (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)

    This case concerned what the ECJ (and the Belgian revenue and courts) appeared to regard as an uncommercial tax scheme.

  4. Competition law in transport: review of 2009 (Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP)

    This article describes the main developments in the application of European Competition law in the transport sector during 2009.

  5. European Commission passes new e-Privacy Directive requiring mandatory data breach notification by public communications providers (A&L Goodbody)

    The European Commission has passed a new e-Privacy Directive 2009/136/EC (the Directive) which makes it mandatory for public communications providers (ISPs and telcos) to inform national regulatory authorities of any data security breach.

  6. AIFM directive: Spanish presidency publishes issues note on draft versions (Clifford Chance LLP)

    The EU Council has published an issues note prepared by the Spanish Presidency comparing the EU Council's 15 December 2009 compromise proposal and the EU Parliament's draft report by Jean-Paul Gauzès, Rapporteur to the ECON Committee.

  7. EU approves new standard contractual clauses for transfers to data processors (Hunton & Williams LLP)

    On February 5, 2010, the European Commission adopted a new set of standard contractual clauses ("SCCs") for transfers of personal data from data controllers in the EU to data processors outside the EU.

  8. Hunton & Williams prepares study for the European Commission on the interaction between data protection law and copyright enforcement (Hunton & Williams LLP)

    On February 3, 2010, Christopher Kuner, a partner in Hunton & Williams' Brussels office and head of the firm's EU Privacy Practice, presented to the "Stakeholders' Dialogue on Illegal Uploading and Downloading," organized by DG Internal Market and Services of the European Commission.

  9. T-Mobile and Orange seek EU approval to create largest wireless carrier in the United Kingdom (Patton Boggs LLP)

    Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA submitted their proposed merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK to European Union antitrust regulators for review.

  10. AIFM Directive update (Mayer Brown LLP)

    Mayer Brown has previously provided an assessment of the Council of the European Union's ("Council") draft compromise proposal (the "Compromise Proposal") on the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (the "Directive") published on 12 November 2009.

  1. Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines joint venture authorised (Blake Dawson)

    Authorisation has been granted by the ACCC to Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines for a joint venture on their flights between Australia and the US.

  2. C7 decision: meaning of ‘purpose’ (Freehills)

    On 2 December 2009, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision in Seven Network Limited v News Limited, the appeal from the widely publicised 'C7' decision in 2007.

  3. Lower thresholds for both Competition Act and Investment Canada Act in 2010 (Stikeman Elliott LLP)

    Unless changed by regulation, the "size of target" threshold for advance notification under the Competition Act of transactions involving Canadian businesses will likely be reduced to C$67 million, in accordance with the GDP indexing provisions which were introduced in amendments to the Act last March.

  4. Competition law in transport: review of 2009 (Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP)

    This article describes the main developments in the application of European Competition law in the transport sector during 2009.

  5. Ticketmaster and Live Nation agree to consent agreement to resolve Competition Bureau concerns (Stikeman Elliott LLP)

    On January 25, 2010, the Competition Bureau announced that it had entered into a consent agreement with Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. and Live Nation, Inc. to resolve competition concerns identified by the Bureau with respect to their proposed merger.

  6. ACCC approves joint venture of Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines (Freehills)

    The ACCC has authorised a joint venture between Virgin Blue Group (Virgin) and Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) in relation to flights between Australia and the USA.

  7. Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline undertakings varied (Blake Dawson)

    The ACCC has consented to vary undertakings accepted in 2004 as a condition for approval of the acquisition of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP) by a consortium comprising Alinta, Alcoa and DUET.

  8. Competition and antitrust in Canada (McMillan LLP)

    First enacted in 1889, Canadian competition legislation predates the Sherman Act.

  9. T-Mobile and Orange seek EU approval to create largest wireless carrier in the United Kingdom (Patton Boggs LLP)

    Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA submitted their proposed merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK to European Union antitrust regulators for review.

  10. When is a global market a ‘market in Australia’ for the purposes of the TPA (DibbsBarker)

    The recent decision of the Full Court of the Australian Federal Court in the case of Singapore Airlines Ltd v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [2009] FCAFC 136 is likely to have ramifications for overseas entities conducting business in global markets including Australia.

  1. Personal liability of directors for company acts of IP infringement (Hammonds LLP)

    In Boegli Gravures SA v (1) Darsail (2) Andrei Pyzhov, the High Court summarised when a director will be personally liable for an intellectual property infringement committed by the company.

  2. Guidance on ‘Wrotham Park' damages for breach of contract (Hammonds LLP)

    In Pell Frischmann Engineering Limited v (1) Bow Valley (2) P T Bakrie, the Privy Council has given guidance on how ‘Wrotham Park’ damages should be assessed.

  3. Company not a ‘subsidiary’ where parent has charged its shares (Hammonds LLP)

    In Enviroco Limited v Farstad Supply A/S, the Court of Appeal held that where a parent company provided shares in its subsidiary as security for a loan and the shares were registered in the name of the lender, the subsidiary would no longer be a ‘subsidiary’ within the meaning of sections 736 and 736A of the Companies Act 1985.

  4. Vodka protected by extended passing off (Hammonds LLP)

    In Diageo v International Brands, the High Court has ruled on an unusual case of extended passing off.

  5. Take it or lose it (Hammonds LLP)

    In a decision that will warm the hearts of HR professionals and line managers alike, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has held in Lyons v Mitie Security Ltd that annual leave not taken close to the end of the relevant leave year can be lost by a worker, provided that the employer does not operate its leave procedures and conditions so as to deny requests for leave unreasonably.

  6. Limited liability partnerships: impact of the Companies Act 2006 (Hammonds LLP)

    Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) continue to be governed primarily by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (the LLP Act).

  7. Another case on the patent employee compensation provisions (Hammonds LLP)

    In Shanks v Unilever, the High Court has provided further guidance on the interpretation of the employee compensation provisions in the Patents Act 1977.

  8. Court of Appeal rules on Star Wars copyright dispute (Hammonds LLP)

    In Lucasfilm v Andrew Ainsworth the Court of Appeal has ruled on various copyright issues including what constitutes a ‘sculpture’ within the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and whether US copyright can be directly enforced in the English courts.

  9. Commission guidance on Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Hammonds LLP)

    The European Commission has published guidance on the interpretation of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC).

  10. New PPS 4 - planning for sustainable economic growth (Hammonds LLP)

    The new PPS 4, which replaces PPS 6 (town centres) and PPG 4 (industrial and commercial development), was issued by the Government on 29 December 2009.

Most popular articles on Lexology

View original document | Send to colleague | Print

If you are interested in submitting an article to Lexology, please contact Andrew Teague at ateague@lexology.com.

© Copyright 2006-2010 Globe Business Publishing Ltd