COMPETITION: COMMISSION FINES GREEK AND ITALIAN FERRIES FOR PRICE FIXING.

Summary: Following a complaint from a Dutch tourist, seven ferry operators are to be fined for running a price-cartel despite the fact that most of them, in the event, did not even honour their own illegal agreements. The European Commission announced on December 9 that it was imposing fines totalling ECU 9.12 million on six ferry companies based in Greece - Minoan, Anek, Strintzis, Ventouris, Karageorgis and Marlines - and one in Italy called Adriatica for breach of EU rules on restrictive business practices with their price-fixing agreements on routes between Greece and Italy.

In July 1994, the Commission went ahead with dawn raids at the offices of six ferry operators, five in Greece and one in Italy. Clear evidence of an infringement of Article 85 of the EC Treaty led the Commission to conclude that these ferry companies had been running a price-fixing cartel for several years. "The cartel was an ongoing agreement which the companies called 'the usual practice' and which operated by means of regular meetings and exchange of correspondence to readjust collectively prices for...