Court dismisses chemicals firm’s appeal against €139m cartel fine
ECJ upholds Commission decision to fine members of hydrogen peroxide cartel.
The European Court of Justice today rejected an appeal by Solvay, a Belgium-based chemicals firm, against a €139 million fine for fixing the price of hydrogen peroxide.
The ECJ also rejected an appeal by two Italian firms, SNIA and Caffaro, against a joint fine of €1.1m for their part in the cartel.
However, the court rejected an appeal by the European Commission to have a €58m fine for Edison, an Italian energy company, reinstated.
The rulings concern a competition case that dates back to 2006, when the Commission handed down fines worth €388.1m to firms for operating a six-year cartel in the market for hydrogen peroxide, which is commonly used in bleaching or cleaning agents. A German chemicals producer, Degussa, escaped a fine of €130m by blowing the whistle on the cartel.
In 2011, the EU’s General Court upheld the Commission’s decision, although it reduced the size of Solvay’s fine by €30m and annulled the fine imposed on Edison.
In a separate ruling in September, the ECJ rejected an appeal by energy firms Total and Elf Aquitaine against a €79m fine for their participation in the cartel. US company FMC Corporation, which was fined €25m by the Commission, did not appeal against the General Court’s ruling. A Dutch chemicals firm, Akzo Nobel, did not appeal against a €25.2m fine imposed on it by the Commission.