Category: Cartels

Two years ago I wrote a short article (which I recently republished here) on why reducing competition fines because a company had a compliance policy would be a mistake. Since then, I’ve changed my mind. But only on the reasoning, not the result. At least for now. And I may change it again. There is fairly profound disagreement on this point between the Commission and many companies (and their advisers). The Commission does not want to give fines reductions for companies that have a compliance programme in place; companies believe that investing in a compliance programme should be recognised by the Commission by a reduction in fines. The disagreement could be simply because companies that have put in place a […]

Two excellent colleagues – one of whom is DG Competition’s Settlement Officer – have written an overview of the current state of settlement practice for cartel cases. Abstract: Since 2008, six cartel settlements have been concluded successfully In one additional case, discussions have discontinued due to lack of progress and the Commission has reverted to the standard procedure. A new wave of cases is currently being dealt with under that procedure “The EU Cartel Settlement Procedure: Current Status and Challenges“, Flavio Laina and Elina Laurinen, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice (2013) 4 (4): 302-311. doi: 10.1093/jeclap/lpt036 First published online: July 5, 2013