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Fines for power cartel
- The European Commission announced on Wednesday (24 January) it was imposing fines totalling €750 million on 11 European and Japanese companies which it found had operated a cartel for power-generating equipment in 1988-2004. The total fine was the second biggest ever cartel fine. Siemens received the biggest ever cartel fine for a single company (€396m plus €22m for the Austrian company VA Tech which it bought in 2005) and said it would appeal. ABB, which informed the Commission of the cartel, won leniency and escaped a €215m fine. The other companies were Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (€119m), Toshiba (€91m), Alstom (€65m), Areva (€53m), Hitachi (€52m), Schneider (€8.1m), Fuji (€3.7m), Japan AE Power Systems (€1.35m).
Insurance probe
- The Commission has published the interim results of an inquiry by its competition department into business insurance. The inquiry has found market fragmentation and conflicts of interest among intermediaries selling insurance products to businesses. Final conclusions are due in September. In the meantime, a public consultation has been launched.
Airport rules unveiled
- The Commission has published a package of legislation for airports. Proposals cover three key areas: airport charges, airport capacity and groundhandling. Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said the new measures would offer a common set of rules to be applied and enforced uniformly throughout Europe.
Auditor liability
- The Commission has launched a public consultation on whether rules on auditor liability should be reformed. Stakeholders are asked to present views on how to determine caps on auditor’s financial responsibility in litigation cases.
Gaz de France vote
- Gaz de France announced that shareholders would be called to vote on its planned merger with utility Suez on 25 June. The €42.9 billion merger has met with stiff opposition in France, mainly over plans to reduce the government’s stake in GdF to just 34% from a previous floor of 70%.
Truck talks
- German truckmaker MAN has withdrawn its €10.3bn hostile bid for Swedish counterpart Scania. All parties, including German carmaker Volkswagen, a major shareholder in both MAN and Scania, have now entered into talks with a view to negotiating a friendly tie-up.
Olive oil dispute
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) is to set up a dispute settlement panel on duties imposed by Mexico on imports of olive oil from the EU.
Member states’ arguments for retaining special exemptions from EU energy taxation rules are unlikely to persuade the European Commission, according to officials.
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