The Spanish Supreme Court declares illegal the criteria applied by the Competition Authority to calculate competition fines (BCN Aduanas y Transportes)

On 29 January 2015 the Spanish Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling clarifying the criteria to be applied by the Spanish Competition Authority (the “Authority”) when setting fines in national proceedings. This position has been confirmed in subsequent rulings. Since the entry into force in 2007 of the current Competition Act, the Authority has been very active in enforcing competition laws. In 2009, Fining Guidelines inspired by the practice of the EU Courts and the European Commission were adopted. Their application led to a substantial increase in the amounts of the fines imposed for competition infringements in Spain. The Supreme Court had already upheld several appeals in favour of companies that questioned the amounts of the fines imposed because it considered that they were