« Fines against hard core cartels in Europe : the myth of overenforcement » (Antitrust Bulletin)

I. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the European Commission (the Commission) has stressed its determination to crack down on cartels. To help its fight against cartels, the Commission has increased the level of fines imposed on price fixers. In 2008, the Commission imposed the highest fine on record, more than 1.3 billion euros, upon the Car Glassby the Commission amounted to more than 2 billion euros. One wonders whether this sharp increase in the level of fines imposed by the Commission on cartelists is supported by economic analysis, which has questioned the ability of antitrust enforcement to prevent cartel formation and has noted the inadequate level of fines compared to the harm to the economy that is inflicted by such anticompetitive practices. Pour lire la suite, cliquer ICI