The EU Court of Justice finds a cartel in the retail food packaging sector (Italmobiliare)

On 15 April 2021, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") handed down its ruling on Italmobiliare's appeal against European Commission decision AT.39563, finding a cartel in the retail food packaging sector. The ECJ rejected Italmobiliare's argument that it should benefit from immunity as regards infringements in one geographic market and a greater fine reduction with respect to infringements in two others. Key takeaways Whilst the Leniency Notice uses a rankings system to determine eligibility for benefits under that notice in cartel proceedings, positions in those rankings are fixed post-decision. A leniency applicant's position in the rankings is definitively set by the European Commission at the end of the administrative phase of