
PAGE 20 EC COMPETITION POLICY NEWSLETTER Vol. 1, N° 2, Summer 1994
included the drawing up of bogus minutes of their meetings
(to cover only "innocent" subjects). The investigation thus
uncovered a whole network of deception designed to ensure
that the cartel was never discovered. Indeed after it had
become known that a complaint had been made, at least one
company engaged lawyers to carry out a "dummy run" or
mock Commission investigation.
THE DECISION
- The 19 companies (23 including the four members of
Finnboard) are required to terminate the infringement with
immediate effect if they have not already done so.
- Fines are imposed on all the participants, and must be
paid within three months from the notification of the
current decision.
The basic level of the fines imposed on the nineteen
companies has been set in accordance with the usual practice
under the EC Treaty. Fines can in theory range up to 10 %
of the undertaking's total turnover, although normally the
calculation is made with reference to EC turnover in the
relevant product. The level of fines takes account of the
gravity and duration of the infringement and distinguishes
between the ringleaders and the "ordinary" members of the
cartel. The substantially reduced fine imposed on STORA
(and one small Norwegian producer, RENA) reflects the
cooperation of these two undertakings in providing
important information and/or documents to the Commission
at an early stage of its investigations. This facilitated the task
of the Commission in establishing the essential facts. Other
companies - BUCHMANN, EUROPA CARTON, FISKEBY,
KNP, DE LANCEY, SARRIO, ENSO ESPANOLA and
WEIG - which a further stage in the proceedings stated that
they did not contest the essential facts alleged are also given
a substantial reduction in the fine which would otherwise
have been appropriate, though this cannot be of the same
order as that given to RENA and STORA. IP/94/642
Table
The producers are :
Name Headquarters Factories Fines
(MECUs)
BUCHMANN GmbH Rinnthal, Germany Germany 2,20
CASCADES SA Paris France (2), Sweden 16,20
ENSO-GUTZEIT Helsinki Finland 3,25
EUROPA CARTON Hamburg Germany 2,40
FINNBOARD Helsinki Finland 20,00
- KYRO BY
Members of Finnboard
(3,00)
- METSA-SERVA OY (7,00)
- TAMPELLA OY (5,00)
- UNITED PAPER MILLS (5,00)
FYSKEBY Sweden 1,00
GRUBER & WEBER GmbH Gernsbach Germany 1,00
BPB DE EENDRACHT (part of BPB) Appingedam Netherlands 1,75
KNP BT NV Amsterdam NL, Germany 3,00
LAAKMANN (now part of MAYR-MELNHOF) Velbert, Germany Germany 2,20
MAYR-MELNHOF Vienna Austria, Germany, Switzerland, UK 21,00
MoDo (IGGESUND) Stockholm Sweden, UK (Workington) 22,75
PAPETERIES DE LANCEY Paris France 1,50
RENA Rena, Norway Rena 0,20
SARRIO Milan Italy, Spain 15,50
SCA HOLDING LTD (formerly. Reed Paper & Board
UK Ltd
)
Maidstone, Kent UK (Maidstone) 2,20
STORA Falun, Sweden Germany, France, Sweden 11,25
ENSO ESPANOLA (formerly Tampella Espanola) Barcelona Spain 1,75
MORITZ J. WEIG KG Mayen, Germany Germany 3,00
132,15
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