EU High Court upholds Eni rubber cartel fine

ERJ staff report (LMH)

London – The European Union’s High Court has ordered Italian energy company Eni SpA to pay a €181.5 million fine for its part in the collusion of prices of synthetic rubber in 2006, rejecting the company’s appeal to have the penalty scrapped, Law 360 reports.

In a 9 May decision, the European Court of Justice upheld a 2011 ruling cut more than €90 million from Eni’s original €272.25 million penalty. Eni had argued that the fine should be set aside because it was wrongly held responsible for its Syndial SpA units involvement in a cartel to fix prices, Law 360 said.

However, the European Court of Justice ruled that precedent allowed it to hold parent companies liable for the subsidiaries, particularly where the subsidiary largely carries out the instructions of the parent company. Law 360 quoted the court as saying that Eni held at least 99.97% of the capital in the companies that were directly active in the synthetic rubber sectors.

In March, the European Commission reinstated the full €272.25 million fine against Eni, saying it had provided more details on the issue allowing it to go ahead with the full figure. However, this decision was not upheld in the 9 May ruling.

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Article from Law 360