Competition Fine Against bpost Annulled On "Double Jeopardy" Grounds

On 10 November 2016, the Brussels Court of Appeal (the "Court") annulled a fine imposed on bpost by the Competition College (Mededingingscollege / Collège de la concurrence) of the Belgian Competition Authority (Belgische Mededingingsautoriteit / Autorité belge de la Concurrence) ("BCA"). Bpost is the Belgian government-controlled incumbent postal services company.

On 10 December 2012, the BCA had imposed a fine of EUR 37,399,786 on bpost (then called De Post / La Poste) on account of an anticompetitive quantitative rebate scheme granted to large clients and intermediaries that had been applied from January 2010 until July 2011 (See VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2012, No. 12, p. 3-4, available at www.vbb.com).