Competition weekly news summary
5 September 2014

Antitrust

  • Commission fines smart card chips producers € 138 million for cartel
    3 September 2014
    The Commission has found that Infineon, Philips, Samsung and Renesas (at the time a joint venture of Hitachi and Mitsubishi) coordinated their market behaviour for smart card chips in the EEA, in breach of EU rules that prohibit cartels. The Commission has imposed fines totalling € 138 048 000. The companies colluded through bilateral contacts that took place in the period between September 2003 and September 2005. Renesas benefitted from full immunity under the Commission's 2006 Leniency Notice for revealing the existence of the cartel to the Commission.
    VP Almunia's statement >
    Press release >
  • Commission sends Statement of Objections to Bulgarian Energy Holding for suspected abuse of dominance on Bulgarian wholesale electricity market
    12 August 2014
    The Commission has informed Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) of its preliminary view that territorial restrictions on resale contained in BEH's electricity supply contracts with traders on the non-regulated Bulgarian wholesale electricity market may breach EU antitrust rules. Such restrictions limit purchasers' freedom to choose where to resell the electricity bought from BEH.
    Read more >
  • Commission consults on functioning and future of Insurance Block Exemption Regulation
    5 August 2014
    The Commission has issued a questionnaire to seek the views of stakeholders on the functioning and the future of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (IBER), which exempts certain agreements between companies in the insurance sector from EU antitrust rules. The IBER is due to expire in March 2017. Submissions can be made until 4 November 2014. Based on the contributions received the Commission will submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council by the end of March 2016.
    Read more >

Mergers

  • Commission clears acquisition of parts of Rolls-Royce by Siemens
    4 August 2014
    The Commission has authorised under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Rolls-Royce's aero-derivative gas turbine business, compressor activities and aftermarket services as well as Rolls Royce's 50% stake in Rolls Wood Group, both of the UK, by Siemens of Germany. The Commission's investigation confirmed that the proposed transaction does not raise competition concerns, in particular because the parties are not close competitors and a number of competitors will remain in the market after the transaction.
    Read more >

State aid

  • Commission orders Bulgaria to recover incompatible State aid granted to certain parties to forest swap transactions
    5 September 2014
    After an in-depth investigation, the Commission has concluded that a Bulgarian law that allowed the swapping of privately-owned against publicly-owned forest land was incompatible with EU State aid rules. The law, which was in force at the time of Bulgaria's accession to the EU in January 2007 until January 2009, conferred a selective advantage on undertakings which benefitted from these forest swap transactions, distorting competition in the Single Market. Bulgaria must now either recover the incompatible State aid from the companies that received it or undo the swaps concerned.
    Read more >
  • Commission approves Abanka's restructuring plan
    13 August 2014
    The Commission has concluded that the restructuring plan of the Slovenian bank Abanka Vipa (Abanka) is in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission has found, in particular, that the restructuring plan will enable Abanka to become viable in the long term without continued state support, while mitigating the distortions of competition brought about by the aid granted to the bank.
    Read more >
  • Overview of decisions and on-going in-depth investigations in the context of the financial crisis
    13 August 2013
    Go to overview >
  • Commission approves resolution aid for Portuguese Banco Espírito Santo
    4 August 2014
    The Commission has found the resolution plan of the Portuguese Banco Espírito Santo S.A., including the creation of a Bridge Bank, to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measures will allow the orderly resolution of the remaining bad bank and provide the bridge bank with the necessary means to maximise the value of its assets in the sale process, while limiting the distortions of competition created by the state aid granted.
    Read more >

Court

  • Case T-471/11 (Lagardčre / VUP merger)
    5 September 2014
    The GC ruled on Odile Jacob's appeal against a Commission decision of 2011 that had approved Wendel as buyer of certain assets that Lagardčre had pledged to divest in order to gain Commission approval for its acquisition of VUP in 2004. The GC had annulled the Commission's first decision of July 2004 to approve Wendel as the buyer of those assests on procedural grounds. The GC dismissed the appeal and entirely upheld the Commission's 2011 decision to approve Wendel as the buyer of those assets with effect as of July 2004.
    Court's press release >
    Full GC judgment >
    More about Commission's 2004 decision approving the acquisition >
    More about Commission's 2004 decision approving Wendel as asset buyer >
  • Case C-533/12 (SNCM state aid)
    4 September 2014
    The EUCJ ruled on appeals by France and by SNCM against a GC judgment of 2012 that had partly annulled a Commission decision of 2008. The Commission's 2008 decision had found that certain state aid measures granted by France in favour of SNCM were in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission reassessed the measures in light of the GC ruling and requested France in 2013 to recover some incompatible state aid from SNCM. The EUCJ dismissed the appeals and entirely upheld the earlier GC ruling.
    Court's press release >
    Full GC judgment >
    More about Commission's 2008 decision >
    More about Commission's 2013 decision >
  • Case C-408/12 P (Fasteners cartel)
    4 September 2014
    The EUCJ ruled on an appeal by YKK against a GC judgment of June 2012 that had dismissed YKK's claim for annulment of a Commission decision of September 2007. The Commission's 2007 decision had fined YKK for participating, with others, in a cartel in the market for fasteners. The EUCJ upheld the Commission's finding of an infringement but reduced YKK's fine from around €19 million to around €3 million because of a change in ownership during the infringement.
    Full EUCJ judgment >
    Full GC judgment >
    More about Commission's 2007 decision >

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Published by the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the above information.

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