Memo: Antitrust: Commission welcomes Court of First Instance judgment on parallel exports of Peugeot cars

The European Commission welcomed the judgment by the European Court of First Instance (CFI) on 9 July, 2009, dismissing the action by Automobiles Peugeot SA and Peugeot Nederland N.V. against a Commission decision of October 2005 (case T-450/05). In its decision, the Commission had fined Peugeot for having obstructed exports of new cars between 1997 and 2003 from The Netherlands to consumers living in other Member States. By preventing these exports, Peugeot committed a very serious violation of the EC Treaty’s ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81). The Court of First Instance confirmed the Commission’s decision punishing Peugeot for this violation. However, the CFI reduced the level of fine imposed from €49.5 million to €44.55 million because it found that the Commission had not taken sufficiently into account the role that price differentials had played in reducing exports. This judgment was important because it was a further confirmation of the Commission’s rigorous stance against companies that try to deprive consumers of the benefits of the Single Market.

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