Shortly after the publication of the Tráficos Manuel Ferrer judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in response to a request for a preliminary ruling (16 February 2023), the judge from the Valencia court who had referred the questions to the CJEU delivered his judgment in the same case (10 March 2023). This blog post analyses the key points of the Valencia court judgment concerning economic expert reports.
Connor and Lande data: median recovery rates suggest that cartel effects can be five times higher than cartel fines
Many cartels remain undetected by competition authorities. Even if detected, the estimated negative effects of price-fixing cartels on prices can be five times larger than the fines imposed by the authorities. That is, the level of fines is suboptimal. The analysis is based on the dataset of Connor and Lande. It partially contradicts the results of a recent study that suggests effective recovery of cartel injuries when cartels are discovered.
Portugal Competition Authority sanctions Energias de Portugal (EDP) €48m for abuse of its dominant position in the secondary electricity reserve market
On 17 September 2019, the Portuguese Competition Authority fined the electricity company EDP €48 million for abusing its dominant position in the market for secondary electricity reserve services in Portugal between 2009 and 2013 by manipulating its electricity offer from its generating units. Portugal Competition Authority sanctions Energias de Portugal (EDP) €48m for abuse of […]
Portuguese healthcare companies and hospitals sanctioned by the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) €190m for collusive behaviour in public health services tenders
On 1 July 2022, the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) sanctioned a group of hospitals for collusive behaviour and imposed a total fine of €190.995.000. This conduct restricted competition for hospital health services tenders issued by the public health subsystem Instituto de Proteção e Assistência na Doença (ADSE). ADSE is a public health system reserved mostly […]
Finnish Competition Authority (KKV) proposes a total fine of €44 million on HVAC infrastructure pipeline companies for prohibited cooperation
On 8 September 2022, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) found that six companies, namely the three largest Finnish wholesalers and the three largest manufacturers of plastic infrastructure pipeline products for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), had participated in prohibited coordination. The infringement lasted for more than six years, from 2009 to 2016. The […]
Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) publishes a study on Dutch cloud services and identifies switching barriers
On 5 September 2022, the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) published a market study on potential anti-competitive practices and their negative consequences on the Dutch and European market for cloud services. Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) publishes a study on Dutch cloud services and identifies switching barriers Cloud services are IT services that are offered over the […]
Spanish largest construction firms fined €203.6m by the CNMC for bid rigging of infrastructure construction and restoration tenders
On 7 July 2022, the CNMC imposed a fine of €203.6m on the six main national construction firms for manipulating public tenders to build infrastructure over more than 25 years, between 1992 and 2017. On the same day, four of the six defendants (Ferrovial, Acciona, Sacyr and ACS) announced the initiation of an appeal procedure […]
Assessing the compatibility of seemingly contradictory statistical evidence in the case of damage estimations (reflections on the article written by Peter Bönisch and Roman Inderst)
In a recent publication, Peter Bönisch and Roman Inderst tackle the delicate issue of the evaluation of seemingly contradictory econometric evidence. Introducing the concept of severity measures, they propose a method to avoid the common obstacles plaguing the interpretation of seemingly conflicting empirical evidence through the practical example of financial damage estimation in follow-on cases. This blog post discusses the ideas presented in the paper.
Seven banks involved in European Government Bonds trading cartel during financial crisis
On 20 May 2021, the Commission found that Bank of America, Natixis, Nomura, RBS (now NatWest), UBS, UniCredit, and WestLB (now Portigon) participated in a cartel in the primary and secondary markets for European Government Bonds (EGB). The collusive behaviour lasted from 2007 to 2011, amidst a financial crisis and affected the European Economic Area […]
Spain: Point-system highway maintenance providers’ cartel
CNMC, the Spanish Competition Authority, has imposed a fine of EUR 59.67 million on 12 companies providing maintenance and management services for the country’s national highway networks. The firms were found to have manipulated tenders for road maintenance and operation services of the State Road Network between 2014 and 2018. In addition to the fines, […]