Andreas Stephan

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. The Significance of China’s First Fine on an International Cartel* On 4 January 2013, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that CNY 353 million (around £35m) would be paid by six South Korean and (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. An Unpopular Solution to the Private Enforcement Problem* The UK’s Department for Business is currently consulting on a package of reforms aimed at making it easier to bring private actions for damages against firms engaged in (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. If Virgin Gets to Keep Its Immunity, Who is Responsible for the Collapse of the BA Trial?* This week the Office of Fair Trading announced that Virgin Atlantic would keep its immunity in the Passenger Fuel Surcharges cartel case. (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. Will IMF Requirement that Ireland Strengthen Competition Law Sanctions Actually Make a Difference?* The Republic of Ireland is facing the most serious economic crisis in its history. In order to deal with its sovereign debt crisis, (...)

Grolsch Cartel Fine Annulment: Should Parent Companies Pay for the Anti-Competitive Conduct of a Subsidiary?* The General Court has annulled a €36.6m fine imposed on Grolsch for the price fixing of beer in Holland. In its decision, the European Commission had treated Koninklijke Grolsch NV (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. OFT Sets the Standard for Promoting Competition Law Compliance* The UK’s Office of Fair Trading should be applauded for making concerted efforts to promote competition law compliance. Today they published new guidance for businesses (...)

ECJ Ruling in Pfleiderer Heightens Concerns about Encouraging Private Enforcement* The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that EU Law does not prohibit access to leniency documents by third parties seeking damages. Access should be determined according to national law, which must (...)

‘Cover Pricing’: Object or Effect?* Last week, the UK’s Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) cut fines on six construction firms by 90%. The fines had been imposed by the Office of Fair Trading in 2009 for cover pricing. The CAT found the original penalties were excessive and reduced the (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. EU Commission Steers Clear of another Antitrust Disaster in Greek Air Transport, but for how long?* This month, the European Commission blocked the proposed merger between Greece’s two main airlines, Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines. (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. Dodgy Plumbing: Why Europe’s Willingness to Grant Bankruptcy Discounts is Bad for Cartel Enforcement* A speech by the European Commissioner for Competition may signal a greater willingness to grant discounts in cartel fines on the (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. Does a High Profile Cartel Investigation Reduce Bid-Rigging?* The OFT have published survey research suggesting greater awareness of competition laws in the construction industry following enforcement, but not the sea change we (...)

Reckless Bank Saved by the Taxpayer Will Now Pay Cartel Fine* British bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has agreed to pay a fine of £28.6 million for price fixing. RBS employees shared confidential pricing information concerning commercial loans, with their counterparts at Barclays, who (...)

Article published on Centre for Competition Policy blog. Greece Needs to Tackle Cartels – But Can It?* An EU task force sent to Athens in January have suggested that removing obstacles to competition – estimated to cost Greece around 1% of GDP (€2.5bn a year) – would help to restore its (...)

On 10 July 2009, Hellenic Petroleum notified the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) of its intention to purchase a controlling share of BP Hellas SA. The acquisition is said to cost Hellenic Petroleum € 359 M. This acquisition includes the entire network of BP facilities in Greece, (...)

The HCC decision concerns vertical agreements entered into by Unilever Hellas with eight Greek supermarket chains, preventing them from buying Unilever products from a third party in the period 2000-2002. In effect, this banned parallel imports of those products, preventing competition between (...)

Following a complaint made by the competing Greek coffee manufacturer DRITSAS, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) launched an investigation into the coffee products market, investigating alleged breaches of Article 81 and 82 EC (and Articles 1 and 2 of Law 703/77) by NESTLE HELLAS A.E. (...)

Background On 27 August 2008, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) launched a series of public consultations on proposed measures which would restore effective competition in the Greek Petroleum Industry. A summary of views submitted during the consultation process was published on 13 (...)

Background On 31 March 2008, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) imposed a €468,870 fine on Geniki Trofimon A.E. (part of Vivartia A.E.) for fixing sales prices and abusing its dominant position in the market for frozen vegetables for domestic consumption. The company was found to have (...)

Background On 20 September 2007, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a Statement of Objections (SO) in which it provisionally found evidence of collusion on the retail price of certain dairy products between a number of large supermarkets and dairy processors. The SO found that (...)