Press Release: Antitrust: Commission fines flat glass producers €486.9 million for price fixing cartel

The European Commission has imposed fines totalling €486,900,000 on Asahi, Guardian, Pilkington and Saint-Gobain for coordinating price increases and other commercial conditions for deliveries of flat glass in the EEA, in violation of the EC Treaty’s and the EEA Agreement’s ban on cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement). Flat glass is used for windows, glass doors and mirrors. Between early 2004 and early 2005, Asahi, Guardian, Pilkington and Saint-Gobain managed to raise or otherwise stabilise prices through a series of meetings and other illicit contacts. The case began on the Commission's own initiative. This is the second case in which the Commission has applied its new 2006 Guidelines (see IP/06/857 and MEMO/06/256) for the calculation of the fine (for the first case, see IP/07/1725).

European Commission: MEMO/07520: Competition: Commission action against cartels – Questions and answers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/520&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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