A cartel is formed when competing companies agree on prices, customers or territories. As a result of this collusion and market manipulation, customers no longer have a choice and free competition is restricted. The same applies when a company has a dominant market position and can thus dictate prices. To prevent this anti-competitive behavior, antitrust laws exist virtually everywhere in the world.
In certain areas, however, cooperation between competing companies can also be sensible and legal. One such example would be car manufacturers developing a common standard for electric car charging stations. Collaboration in the area of statistics can also make sense, as long as it benefits consumers. So when is cooperation and information sharing against antitrust law? As with many legal questions, the answer is: it depends.
There are three basic forms in antitrust law:
Horizontal restriction of competition: This restriction is directed against coordination between companies at the same market level, for example two car manufacturers. Typical antitrust violations include price fixing, market or customer sharing, and the exchange of future strategies. In such clear-cut cases, it does not matter how much market share the companies have in common, because these are so-called "hardcore agreements". In less clear-cut cases, the companies must have a combined market share of more than 10% for any agreements to become relevant under antitrust law.
Vertical restriction of competition: into illegal agreements, for example a reinsurer and a primary insurer or a primary insurer and brokers. By the way, it does not matter for antitrust law whether the companies conclude written contracts or only make verbal "gentlemen's agreements". Even if two competitors only behave in the same way on the market, for example if they constantly offer the same prices, the antitrust authorities can assume concerted behavior. And the companies must prove that this is not the case. beweisen, dass dem nicht so ist.
Abuse of a dominant market position: As a rule, companies with a market share of 40% or more are considered to be dominant. If they charge unreasonably high prices, use predatory pricing to force competitors out of the market, or treat comparable customers differently, this constitutes a violation of antitrust law.
The consequences for violations of antitrust law can be drastic and lead to personal fines of up to €1 million. Involved companies face fines of up to 10% of the group's annual turnover. So what does this mean for each and every one of us? Make sure that you do not exchange any competition-sensitive information that could allow conclusions to be drawn about current or future market behavior, especially when in contact with competitors, but also with upstream or downstream business partners. If in doubt, contact the compliance department or the compliance officer in your company.
