The EU Court of Justice considers that the bilateral exchange of pre-pricing informations to a concerted practice with the object of restricting competition is an anticompetitive practice (Dole)

In its ruling of 19 March 2015 (Case C-286/13P) relating to the banana cartel, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) dismissed the appeal by banana importer Dole against the General Court’s judgment in its entirety. The CJEU agreed with the Commission’s findings, supported by the General Court, that the bilateral exchange between banana importers of pre-pricing information relating to the weekly quotation prices for bananas did amount to a concerted practice with the object of restricting competition in breach of article 101 TFEU. The ruling confirms the EU Commission’s approach to information exchange as set out in its 2011 guidelines on horizontal co-operation agreements (the Guidelines). The CJEU held that, even though it is still necessary to consider the information exchange in its