Competition: The Commission fines brewers in market sharing and price fixing cartels on the Belgian market
( December 5, 2001, 16:13 GMT | Official Statement) -- ****************************************The European Commission has today fined several companies a total of over € 91 million for participating in two distinct secret cartels on the Belgian beer market between 1993 and 1998. The infringements included market sharing, price fixing and information exchange. They affected the horeca sector (i.e. hotels, restaurants and cafés) as well as the retail sector (i.e. supermarkets and other food shops), including the sale of private label beers. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said: "This is the first Commission prohibition decision in a series of cartel cases in the beer sector. It involves major market players. One of the extraordinary features of this case is the personal involvement of Interbrew's, Alken Maes' and Danone's top managers at the time. This is a very serious matter. I also take Danone's recidivism very seriously. The Commission's fining policy aims at deterring companies from committing blatant infringements of our competition rules. I hope the companies involved got the message."...
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