The EC's Revised Leniency Notice for Cartel Cases

AuthorDavid R Little
PositionBA (Cantab), Maitrise en droit (Université Paris Il-Assas), LLM Candidate, London School of Economics
Pages136-144
THE
EUROPEAN
COMMISSION'S
REVISED
LENIENCY
NOTICE
FOR
CARTEL
CASES
DAVID
R.
LITTLE*
Cartels,
variously described
as
a
"cancer"'
and
"a
killer
blow
to
the
heart
of
healthy
economic activity,"
2
are
caught
by
Article
81
of
the
EC
Treaty.
Article
81
prohibits
agreements and
concerted
practices
between
undertakings
and
associations
of
undertakings,
the
object
of
which
are
to
prevent, restrict
or
distort
competition
within
the
common
market.
Cartels,
designed
inter
alia
to
fix prices
and
production
quotas
or
partition
national
markets,
are
considered anti-competitive because
they
artificially
insulate
the
participants
from
market
pressures that
would
otherwise
create
an
incentive
to
increase
efficiency, improve products,
lower
prices
and
innovate.
Cartel arrangements
cost
the
global economy
billions
of
dollars
annually.
3
In
response, the European
Commissioner
for
Competition
has
therefore
made
tackling
cartels
a
principal
policy
aim,
4
creating
a
specific
*
BA
(Cantab),
Maitrise
en
droit
(Universit6
Paris
Il-Assas),
LLM
Candidate,
London
School
of
Economics.
I Mario Monti
"Fighting
Cartels:
Why
and How?" 3
rd
Nordic
Competition
Policy
Conference,
Stockholm,
11-12
September
2000.
2
Neelie
Kroes,
European
Commissioner
for
Competition
Policy,
"Delivering
on
the
crackdown:
recent
developments
in the
European
Commission's
campaign
against
cartels",
speech
delivered
13
October 2006
at
the
10th
Annual
Competition
Conference
at
the
European Institute,
Fiesole,
Italy
ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/speeches/index-speeches
by-the
commissioner.html
(visited
3
February
2007).
3
An
OECD
survey
conducted
between
1996 and
2000
estimated
the cost
to
the
global
economy
of
16
indicative
cartel cases
brought
to the
organisation's
attention
at
more
than
USD
55
billion.
See
OECD
Report by
the
Directorate
for Financial, Fiscal
and
Enterprise
Affairs
(Competition
Committee),
Report
on
the
Nature
and
Impact
of
Hard
Core
Cartels
and
Sanctions
against
Cartels under National
Competition
Laws,
DAFFE/COMP
(2002)7.
4
"I
am
determined to
build
on
the
work
that
has
already been done
[on
fighting
cartels],
to
give
that
work
an
even
higher priority,
and
to
ensure
that
the
right
resources
are
in
place
to
do
it."
Neelie
Kroes,
European
Commissioner
for
Competition
Policy,
"Taking
Competition
Seriously
-
Anti-Trust
Reform
in
Europe",
speech
delivered
10
March
2005
at
the
International
Bar
Association/European Commission
Conference,
Anti-Trust
Reform
in
Europe:
A
Year
in
Practice,
Brussels.
Available
at
ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/speeches/index-speeches-by-the-commissioner.html.
(visited
3
February
2007).
© 2007
David
R
Little
and
Dublin
University
Law Society

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