Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s newly-appointed competition chief, said on Monday the economic crisis was no excuse for loosening strict antitrust rules and reducing fines for violations that critics say are too high.
Almunia, the former monetary affairs commissioner who took over the competition portfolio from Neelie Kroes last week, outlined his priorities at an industry event in Paris.
He said the European Commission would have to remain “vigilant” and pursue competition infringements with fines that were sufficient to deter anti-competitive behavior.
A “reasoned and effective” application of competition rules was the best possible encouragement for companies to abide by them, he said.
“And this application is no less important in periods of economic crisis such as that which we are experiencing today,” Almunia said, according to a text of his speech, adding that the harm caused by violations at such times was even more significant.
Antitrust experts said Almunia seemed determined to follow Kroes’s tough line.
“Almunia is signaling that there are no radical changes in policy. In a sense that is good. Reliability and predictability are important for businesses, to know what to expect,” said Martin Bechtold, a partner at Allen & Overy.
“The interesting thing will be in the details.”
The appointment of Almunia, one of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s most trusted allies, underlines the importance Barroso attaches to cracking down on any signs of protectionism or flouting of EU competition rules.
It followed criticism that the EU has not upheld its own strict rules for the single market since approving a series of national rescue schemes for banks, carmakers and companies hurt by the credit crisis.
Almunia said there were no plans to change the Commission’s policy on fines, which has seen companies such as Intel (INTC.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) slapped with penalties of hundreds of millions of euros.
“The economic crisis does not justify a revision of the criteria established four years ago regarding fines,” he said.
“The rule of a maximum of 10 percent of a company’s turnover already acted as an ‘automatic stabilizer’, which ensures that fines are not excessive,” Almunia said.
Companies can appeal to the Luxembourg-based General Court to reduce their fines.
“Ultimately it will be the Court to decide on the appropriate level of fines,” said antitrust lawyer Thomas Jestaedt at Jones Day. Hard money training.
Tags: businesses, economic crisis, european commission, joaquin almunia
britax fronteir…
[...]The information talked about within the write-up are a number of the best offered [...]…
dyson dc24 vacuum…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]…
good elliptical machines…
[...]that will be the finish of this post. Right here you?ll obtain some internet sites that we assume you?ll value, just click the hyperlinks over[...]…
Hi…..
I have recently started a web site, the information you offer on this web site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work. “You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand.” by Leonardo DaVinci….
best steam mop…
[...]The facts talked about inside the write-up are a few of the top accessible [...]…
garmin watch 305…
[...]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I like but really don’t get a good deal of link like from[...]…
discount miele vacuums…
[...]the time to study or go to the material or web-sites we’ve linked to beneath the[...]…
toaster over…
[...]just beneath, are a lot of completely not related sites to ours, having said that, they’re surely really worth going over[...]…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Wow…..
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again! “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” by Friedrich Nietzsche….
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Websites You Should Visit…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]…
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
online watch movies…
Would you be concerned with exchanging hyperlinks?…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Hiya…..
Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “England and America are two countries separated by the sam…
Hiya…..
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “We strain to renew our capacity for wonder, to s…
Hello…..
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your website is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my fri…
Trackback…
[...] Like you can see at this site [...]…
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Hello…..
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your website is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my frie…
Hiya…..
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “Creativity comes from zeal to do something, generally it is to …
Wow…..
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thank you again! “One never goes so far as when one doesn’t know where one is going.” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe….
Hiya…..
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch as I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “England and America are two countries separated by the same l…
abloom…
Thanks very good for report, I follow your blog:-)…
Impressive writing style…
Exciting short article. The products i have to make a contribution simple fact that personalized computer cognizance is necessary to be found if your pc won’t be able to reduce find out what you do with it. You may utilize one or two Random access mem…
Hi…..
I have recently started a website, the information you offer on this web site has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work. “It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” by Sir W…
Hmm…..
Great write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s web site, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time. “Our opinions do not really blossom into fruition until we have expressed them to someone else.” by…
Wow!…
A very spectacular post. …
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Wow!…
A very awesome post. …
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Kamasz…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Wow…..
I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thank you again! “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” by Friedrich Nietzsche….
abaca…
moncler jackets womenThe duck-down collection of Moncler is in high-demand to boot…
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
aargh…
ugg classic mini grey For husbands who want to give a present to your wife,ugg tassel short 5835 can you miss this profect gift?replica frank muller casablanca watches…