In-class exercise on Competition law by Johanna V

JOHANNA'S EXAMPLE - VALIO FINLAND

johanna_ventela — 2020-08-18 21:08:27 UTC

1. Company involved: VALIO, a large Finnish dairy and food manufacturer
2. FCCA sued Valio for Predatory pricing in the fresh milk markets, for their objective of foreclosing competition in them in 2012.
3. Penalty was EUR 70 million. Ruling: ' Normally, price reductions are in the consumers’ interest and an indication of effective competition. In this case, however, the abnormal underpricing would have forced Valio’s competitors out of the markets, thereby strengthening Valio’s position. In the long term, this would have weakened competition and resulted in price increases, which would have been harmful for consumers,” says Juhani Jokinen, Director General of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority.

Source: https://www.kkv.fi/en/current-issues/press-releases/2016/29.12.2016-the-supreme-administrative-court-imposes-a-penalty-payment-on-valio-for-milk-pricing/

Joona, Rama, Sara and Valtteri's case

2021-03-10 13:33:36 UTC

1. The companies involved were Helsingin ja Uudenmaan Sairaanhoitopiirin kuntayhtymä (HUS) v Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto (KKV)
2. The case was about HUS purchasing medical equipment for a certain wound-treating operation, without competeing four different suppliers, starting from 2005.
3. The penalty applied was a fine of 40,000 Euros, which was been raised to 70,000 Euros afterwards.
Case(s): https://www.markkinaoikeus.fi/fi/index/paatokset/kilpailu-javalvonta-asiat/1602674076567.html
https://www.markkinaoikeus.fi/fi/index/paatokset/kilpailu-javalvonta-asiat/1602675325319.html

Norway

2021-03-10 13:34:01 UTC

(Helmi, Badr, Mona)

1.
- ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd,

- Brugg Rohrsysteme GmbH,

- Dansk Rørindustri A/S (Starpipe),

- Henss/Isoplus Group,

- Ke-Kelit Kunststoffwerk GmbH,

- Oy KWH Tech AB,

- Løgstør Rør A/S,

- Pan-Isovit GmbH,

- Sigma Tecnologie di rivestimento srl,

- Tarco Energi A/S;
2.
Manufacturers/suppliers of pre-insulated pipes, in particular ABB, Løgstør, Tarco, Starpipe, Pan-Isovit and Isoplus had formed an unlawful and clandestine cartel by which they had divided the European market amongst the participants on the basis of a quota system, agreed prices for the product and for individual projects and cooperated in manipulating the bidding procedure for individual projects so as to ensure that the contract in question was awarded to the producer designated in advance by the cartel,

- that in order to protect the cartel from competition and maintain its control of the market the above producers had taken concerted steps to damage the business of Powerpipe and/or confine its activities to the Swedish market and/or drive it out of business altogether by (inter alia) systematically luring away key management personnel and unlawfully interfering with its contractual relations with customers and suppliers.

Slovakia

2021-03-10 13:34:55 UTC

Slovak telecom,

The request has been made in proceedings between Slovak Telekom a.s. (‘ST’) and the Protimonopolný úrad Slovenskej republiky (Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic) (‘the Slovak competition authority’) concerning the legality of a decision imposing a fine on ST for having abused its dominant position, within the meaning of Article 102 TFEU, by applying tariffs on retail telecommunications markets and on the wholesale interconnection market which resulted in a margin squeeze. Unknown penalties.

Uusimaa, Suomi

2021-03-10 13:35:52 UTC

1. Porvoon Autokoulu, Drivers Club, Auto-opisto
2. in 2013 when the legislation about drivings licence got updated, prizes were raised by 600€. In 2014 there started two new driving schools in the area of Uusimaa, and the cartel tried to get them to raise their prizes also. The point was that the companies didnt have to lower their prizes.
3. 51 million € was imposed in two companies. one company was exempted from fees because it told the agency about the cartel.

2021-03-10 14:20:16 UTC

Illegal Agreement among ice hockey teams - Niko Saarenpää

2021-03-11 09:40:22 UTC

1. Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy and Ice hockey leagues

2. The SM-Liiga Oy and the Ice hockey leagues had made an agreement about not playing practice matches against Jokerit (hockey team). They also made an agreement to not hire players from Jokerit. This agreement was illegal based on Finnish competition law.

3. Finnish competition and consumer authority enforced to cancel the agreement.

https://www.kkv.fi/ratkaisut-ja-julkaisut/ratkaisut/arkisto/2019/kielto--sitoumus--ja-toimitusvelvoiteratkaisut/kkv30314.00.002017/

-Niko Saarenpää

Suomi

2021-03-15 17:25:25 UTC

Mikael Rajala

1. Stora Enso, Metsäliitto, UPM
2. Stora Enso, Metsäliitto and UPM-Kymmene had cartel. They had agreement concerning prices of raw wood.
3. Stora Enso and Metsäliitto were sentenced to pay millions of euros fines. UPM-Kymmene didn't have to pay, because they informed court about cartel.