THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION FINES COROOS AND GROUPE CECAB FOR PARTICIPATING IN A CANNED VEGETABLE CARTEL: A BRIEF REMINDER ABOUT LENIENCY AND SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES
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Abstract
On September 27, 2019, the European Commission (hereinafter « the Commission ») fined the Dutch food-processing company Coroos and the French agricultural cooperative Groupe CECAB (now called Groupe d’Aucy) a total of €31.6 million for participating, for more than 13 years, in a canned vegetables cartel. The French vegetable processor Bonduelle has escaped a €250 million fine, as it revealed the cartel to the Commission. All three companies admitted their involvement in the cartel and agreed to settle the case.
Fighting against cartel has become one of the top priorities of every competition authority. The European Commission enjoys an effective and dissuasive array of tools to detect and sanction companies involved in a cartel. Pecuniary sanctions have been supplemented by two major mechanisms, the leniency programs and the settlement procedure.
The decision at stake is an opportunity to remind oneself what are the respective content and purposes of the leniency programs and the settlement procedure. Even though leniency and settlement are two different mechanisms, they appear to be complementary.
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