European Cartel Fines Under the 2006 Penalty Guidelines - A Statistical Analysis
23 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2010
Date Written: December 10, 2010
Abstract
This paper undertakes a statistical analysis of the fines imposed on 168 firms in 22 cartels prosecuted by European Commission under the 2006 Penalty Guidelines, leniency notice, settlement process, and the courts on appeals over the period 2007 to 2010. It looks closely at how the Commission built-up its fines based on the 2006 Penalty Guidelines. Among the main findings are - that fines are considerably less than provided for under the guidelines, that the average fine per firm has declined significantly since 2007, that repeat offenders are let off lightly, and that the Commission's published decision often redacted key information on the fining procedure.This is a companion paper to the updated assessment of cartel prosecutions and fines under the European Commission’s 1998 Penalty Guidelines for the earlier period 1998 to 2006 (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1016014).
Keywords: Price-Fining. Cartel, Fines, Leniency, Market Sharing, Recidivisim
JEL Classification: D4, K0, L1, L4
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation