In one of our earlier blogs we already drew attention to the fact that various supervisory authorities in the European Union are cracking down on vertical price-fixing or resale price maintenance (RPM). This past year, for instance, the Bundeskartellamt in Germany imposed several RPM-related fines. In Denmark and Austria the competition authorities took RPM-related action six times in 2013. In October 2013 the Italian competition authority instituted an investigation in Italy into resale price maintenance by Power-One. One month later that Italian competition authority performed a similar investigation into Enervit. In Switzerland the competition authority commenced an investigation in November 2013 into resale price maintenance in the sale of cosmetics. At the same time the OFT in the United Kingdom directed its attention towards RPM in the sale of sports bras. These past few years fines for vertical price-fixing have also been imposed in Poland, Ireland and other countries.
In addition to well-established companies such as Unilever, Miele and George Jensen, these legal actions are also affecting smaller companies, such as HG Agencies. The fines for resale price maintenance relate to the resale of numerous products, varying from cosmetics and lifestyle products to technical tools. This trend will continue in 2014. The Polish competition authority was the first this year to impose fines for resale price maintenance in the sale of skis and watches. This increased focus on RPM is in sharp contrast to the situation in the Netherlands. The ACM (Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets) is not yet showing any significant interest in resale price maintenance. In light of these international developments, however, the ACM will most likely want to keep up with this development. Producers and wholesalers, particularly if they operate in several Member States, must therefore be increasingly alert to avoid any price-fixing agreements with their distributors and retailers. Transparent internal guidelines and regular practical training of the commercial department(s) can avoid high fines (which may also be imposed on individuals in The Netherlands).
