Commission Decision of 23 April 1986 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/31.149 - Polypropylene) (Only the German, English, French, Italian and Dutch texts are authentic)
PART II — LEGAL ASSESSMENT
ANIC SpA, ATO Chemie SA (now Atochem), BASF AG, DSM NV, Hercules Chemicals NV, Hoechst AG, Chemische Werke Huels (now Huels AG), ICI PLC, Chemische Werke LINZ, Montepolimeri SpA (now Montedipe), Petrofina SA, Rhône-Poulenc SA, Shell International Chemical CO. LTD, Solvay & Cie and SAGA Petrokjemi AG & Co. (now part of Statoil) have infringed Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty, by participating:
- in the case of ANIC, from about November 1977 until a date in late 1982 or early 1983,
- in the case of Rhône-Poulenc, from about November 1977 until the end of 1980,
- in the case of Petrofina, from 1980 until at least November 1983,
- in the case of Hoechst, ICI, Montepolimeri and Shell from about mid-1977 until at least November 1983,
- in the case of Hercules, LINZ and SAGA and Solvay from about November 1977 until at least November 1983,
- in the case of ATO, from at least 1978 until at least November 1983,
- in the case of BASF, DSM and Huels, from some time between 1977 and 1979 until at least November 1983,
in an agreement and concerted practice originating in mid-1977 by which the producers supplying polypropylene in the territory of the EEC:
(a) contacted each other and met regularly (from the beginning of 1981, twice each month) in a series of secret meetings so as to discuss and determine their commercial policies;
(b) set 'target' (or minimum) prices from time to time for the sale of the product in each Member State of the EEC;
(c) agreed various measures designed to facilitate the implementation of such target prices, including (principally) temporary restrictions on output, the exchange of detailed information on their deliveries, the holding of local meetings and from late 1982 a system of 'account management' designed to implement price rises to individual customers;
(d) introduced simultaneous price increases implementing the said targets;
(e) shared the market by allocating to each producer an annual sales target or 'quota' (1979, 1980 and for at least part of 1983) or in default of a definitive agreement covering the whole year by requiring producers to limit their sales in each month by reference to some previous period (1981, 1982).
The undertakings named in Article 1 shall forthwith bring the said infringement to an end (if they have not already done so) and shall henceforth refrain in relation to their polypropylene operations from any agreement or concerted practice which may have the same or similar object or effect, including any exchange of information of the kind normally covered by business secrecy by which the participants are directly or indirectly informed of the output, deliveries, stock levels, selling prices, costs or investment plans of other individual producers, or by which they might be able to monitor adherence to any express or tacit agreement or to any concerted practice covering prices or market sharing inside the EEC. Any scheme for the exchange of general information to which the producers subscribe (such as Fides) shall be so conducted as to exclude any information from which the behaviour of individual producers can be identified and in particular the undertakings shall refrain from exchanging between themselves any additional information of competitive significance not covered by such a system.
The following fines are hereby imposed on the undertakings named herein in respect of the infringement found in Article:
(i)
ANIC SpA, a fine of 750 000 ECU, or Lit 1 103 692 500;
(ii)
Atochem, a fine of 1 750 000 ECU, or FF 11 973 325;
(iii)
BASF AG, a fine of 2 500 000 ECU, or DM 5 362 225;
(iv)
DSM NV, a fine of 2 750 000 ECU, or Fl 6 657 640;
(v)
Hercules Chemicals NV, a fine of 2 750 000 ECU, or Bfrs 120 569 620;
(vi)
Hoechst AG, a fine of 9 000 000 ECU, or DM 19 304 010;
(vii)
Huels AG, a fine of 2 750 000 ECU, or DM 5 898 447,50;
(viii)
ICI PLC, a fine of 10 000 000 ECU, or £ 6 447 970;
(ix)
Chemische Werke LINZ, a fine of 1 000 000 ECU, or Lit 1 471 590 000;
(x)
Montedipe, a fine of 11 000 000 ECU, or Lit 16 187 490 000;
(xi)
Petrofina SA, a fine of 600 000 ECU, or Bfrs 26 306 100;
(xii)
Rhône-Poulenc SA, a fine of 500 000 ECU, or FF 3 420 950;
(xiii)
Shell International Chemical Co. Ltd, a fine of 9 000 000 ECU, or £ 5 803 173;
(xiv)
Solvay & Cie, a fine of 2 500 000 ECU, or Bfrs 109 608 750;
(xv)
Statoil Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap AS (now incorporating SAGA Petrokjemi), a fine of 1 000 000 ECU, or £ 644 797.
The fines imposed under Article 3 shall be paid within three months of the date of notification of this Decision to the following bank accounts:
Belgium
(v), (xi), (xiv):
N° 426-4403001-52,
Kredietbank, Agence Schuman, 2 Rond Point Schuman, 1040 Bruxelles.
Germany
(iii), (vi), (vii):
N° 260/00/64910, Sal. Oppenheim und Cie, Unter-
sachsenhausen 4, 5000 Koeln 1.
France
(ii), (xii):
N° 9957 M, Crédit Lyonnais, Agence Intern. in 693, 16, rue
du 4 Septembre, 75002 Paris
Cedex 02.
Italy
(i), (ix), (x):
N° 26952/018, Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde, Via Monte di Pieta,
8, 20121 Milano.
United Kingdom
(viii), (xiii), (xv):
N° 108.63.41, Lloyds Bank Ltd, Overseas Department, PO Box 19, 6 Eastcheap, London
EC 3P 3AB.
Netherlands
(iv):
N° 41.60.95.518, Amrobank, Rembrandtplein 47, Postbus 1220, 1000 EH Amsterdam.
This Decision is addressed to:
- ANIC SpA, Direzione Generale, 2097 San Donato Milanese, Casella Postale 12120, I-20100 Milano,
- Atochem SA, La Défense 5, Cedex 24, F-92091 Paris la Défense,
- BASF AG, Karl Bosch Str. 38, D-6700 Ludwigshafen,
- DSM, PO Box 65, NL-6400 AB Heerlen,
- SA Hercules Chemicals NV, Mercure Centre, Raketstraat 100, B-1130 Brussels,
- HOECHST AG, Postfach 80 03 20, D-6230 Frankfurt-am-Main 80,
- HUELS AG, D-4370 Marl,
- ICI PLC, Imperial Chemical House, Millbank, GB-London SW1 P 3JF,
- CHEMISCHE WERKE LINZ AG,
(a) Postfach 2 96, A-4021 Linz (Austria);
(b) c/o Chemie Linz Italia, via Mascheroni 19, I-20145 Milano,
- Montedipe SpA, via Taramelli 26, I-20124 Milano,
- PETROFINA SA, Chemical Sales Division, 33 rue de la Loi, B-1040 Brussels,
- RHÔNE-POULENC SA, 25 Quai Paul Doumer, F-92408 Courbevoie-Cedex,
- SHELL Chemical International Trading Company, SHELL INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL Co. Ltd, Shell Centre, GB-London SE 1 7PG,
- SOLVAY et CIE, 33 rue du Prince Albert, B-1050 Brussels,
- STATOIL, Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap AS,
(a) N-3960 Stathelle (Norway);
(b) c/o Statoil (UK) Ltd, 25-29 Queen Street, Maidenhead, GB-Berks SL 6 1NB.
This Decision is enforceable pursuant to Article 192 of the EEC Treaty.
Done at Brussels, 23 April 1986.
For the Commission
Peter SUTHERLAND
Member of the Commission
(1) OJ N° 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62.
(2) OJ N° 127, 20. 8. 1963, p. 2268/63.
(3) The Spanish and Portuguese producers Alcudia and CNP occasionally participated in meetings but limited their sales to Spain and Portugal which at the relevant time were not EEC Member States.
(4) 'Nameplate' capacity is the theoretical annual production of a plant as rated by its designers on the assumption it is fully operated throughout the year and produces one standard product. 'Effective' capacity (usually 85 or 90 % of 'nameplate') reflects the optimal production under ideal conditions of a mix of products.
(5) Apparently no price lists as such were published or given to customers but in their internal documentation the producers frequently use the terms 'list' or 'target' prices interchangeably.
(6) Of the producers not shown to have 'supported' the December 1977 initiative, ANIC admits taking part in meetings from the beginning; ATO admits taking part from 1978; BASF claims to have attended only 'sporadically' before 1980; DSM claims to be unaware of the date meetings started and only admits attending from 1980, while Huels claims to have attended only one meeting before mid-1982.
(7) OJ N° L 171, 25. 6. 1973, p. 1.
(8) OJ N° L 300, 31. 12. 1972, p. 3.
(9) OJ N° L 319, 29. 11. 1974, p. 1.
Supplementary provisions
ANNEXSupplementary provisions
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Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
