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Dublin 21st December. High Court Rules Local
Authorities Abused Dominant Position. The
High Court found that the four Dublin local authorities had abused their
dominant position in seeking to alter the regulations for waste collection.
Panda, a private waste collection firm, brought the case claiming that the
Councils were seeking to exclude private firms from providing waste collection
services.
London 21st December. Competition Appeals Tribunal
Overturns Competition Commission Break-up of UK Airports. The Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) upheld an appeal by
the British Airports Authority (BAA) against an order by the Competition
Commission (CC)requiring it to sell off a number of its airports. The decision
was overturned on the grounds of a possible conflict of interest by one of the
members of the CC panel which conducted the airport investigation. In March the
CC ordered BAA which owns seven UK airports to divest itself of Stansted and
Gatwick Airports in London and of either Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport in
Scotland. The Commission found that BAA's ownership of these airports along
with its ownership of London Heathrow and Southampton Airports and Aberdeen
Airport in Scotland meant that there was no competition between airports in the
South East of England and Scotland.
Dublin 2nd December. Energy regulator seeks views on
possible abolition of regulation of electricity prices for households and small
firms. The CER has published a
consultation paper on the possibility of removing price regulation on
electricity for households and small firms. Price control on sales to large
companies has already been removed. Click here
for more.
Dublin 30th November. First jail sentence in a cartel case. The first jail sentence for cartel behaviour was imposed
today by the Central Criminal Court when it imprisoned a director of a motor
car dealership for 28 days. The man concerned was one of several convicted of
fixing prices of Citroen cars in Ireland.
Dublin 24th July. High Court rules publicans guilty of
contempt. A recommendation by the Licensed
Vintners Association (LVA)to its members to freeze drink prices was held to be
in contempt of court. The LVA had previously given undertakings that it would
not issue any pricing recommendations following earlier legal proceedings
brought by the Competition Authority.
Dublin 19th March. High Court overturns Competition
Authority prohibition of Kerry/Breeo Foods merger. In a judgment delivered today the High Court overturned the
Competition Authority's prohibition of the merger between Kerry Foods and Breeo
Foods. Both firms are engaged in the supply and distribution of a range of
consumer foods. The Authority had decided that the transaction would result in
a substantial lessening of competition in the markets for rashers, non-poultry
cooked meats and processed cheese. The Court found that the Authority had erred
in finding that supermarket groups did not have sufficient countervailing buyer
power to resist any post-merger price increase in respect of rashers and
non-poultry cooked meats. It also found that the Authority had erred in
defining processed cheese as a distinct product market. This was the first
appeal against a decision by the Authority since it assumed responsibility for
deciding merger cases in July 2003. Compecon advised Kerry Foods.
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