EU too lenient with cartels

Published on 24 September 2013 at 13:18

"Europe is too soft on the price-fixing cartels," writes De Standaard. The Flemish newspaper reports on a recent study by the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank which reveals that the fines imposed by the European Commission over the last 12 years have not been high enough to deter companies from fixing prices and concluding illicit agreements.
According to the newspaper,

In four out of five cases it was advantageous [for the corporations] to conclude agreements on prices or to carve up the market among themselves even when that meant they had to pay fines of several million euros.

During those twelve years, De Standaard reports, Brussels imposed fines of €18.4bn – while the illegal agreements cost European consumers about €300bn.

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