The undertakings do not have any interest to remain in a vicious competition environment, because the Competition Council can find out, at any time, the means to prove the existence of that cartel and then the consequences will be very serious for those involved”

 Mihai Berinde

President of the Competition Council

The secret cartels aimed at fixing prices,  production or sales quotas, sharing markets or clients, restricting imports or exports, bid-rigging are serious infringements of the Competition Law no.21/1996 and are sanctioned with fines up to 10% of the total turnover and by confiscating the supplementary incomes obtained by the undertakings from infringing the Law.

By applying the leniency policy, the Competition Council encourages undertakings to give up these agreements and to come forward with information and evidence regarding to these agreements.

The system of granting leniency 

The undertakings can benefit of total immunity from fines or of reduction of fine in accordance with the information presented to the Competition Council.

A decisive contribution for starting the investigation on a cartel case may justify granting the immunity from fines to the undertakings concerned. Immunity from fines represents exoneration from the fines stipulated in Art.56 (1), (a) of the Competition Law no.21/1996, with subsequent amendments and completions.

Competition Council will grant immunity from fines for an undertaking if that undertaking is the first to submit evidence:

- that, in the Competition Council’s  view, may enable it to open the investigation  pursuant to the art.40 of the Competition Law no.21/1996, with subsequent amendments and completions;

- that, in the Competition Council’s view, may enable it to prove an infringement  of Art. 5 of the Competition Law no.21/1996, with subsequent amendments and completions.

An undertaking may benefit of immunity from fines if it cumulatively fulfils the following conditions:

- the undertaking cooperates fully, continuously and expeditiously with the Competition Council;

- the undertaking ends its involvement in the alleged illegal activity, no later than the date at which it submits evidence;

- the undertaking did not take steps to coerce other undertakings to participate in the illegal alleged activity  .

A cooperation by one undertaking with Competition Council may justify a reduction of a fine. In order to qualify, the undertaking must cumulatively meet the following conditions:

- the undertaking must provide the Competition Council with evidence of the alleged infringement which represents significant added value with respect to the evidence already in its possession;

- the undertaking must end its involvement in the suspected  infringement no later than the date at which it submits the evidence to the Competition Council.

For the first undertaking which informs The Competition Council with respect to the existence of a cartel, the Competition Council grants:

IMMUNITY

The reduction level an undertaking will benefit from, relative to the fine which would have been normally imposed, will be granted within next bands:

 30-50 %

 20-30 %

 0-20  %           

In order to determine the reduction level within each of those bands, the Competition Council will take into account the date at which the evidence was submitted, as well as the significant added value brought by it.

T h e   E u r o p e a n   C o m m i s s i o n

enforces  succesfully