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ARTICLE · 13 SEPTEMBER 2010

Rebates – the Commission’s Contentious Method of Analysis Lives On

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The EU Court has upheld a Commission decision that was generally considered an important test of the Commission’s current methodology of analysing exclusionary conduct by dominant companies.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
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Article by Kiran S. Desai , Nathalie Jalabert-Doury , Gillian Sproul and Jens Peter Schmidt

Originally published 10 September 2010

Keywords: Tomra, EU, judgment, fine, dominant company, exclusivity

The EU Court has upheld a Commission decision that was generally considered an important test of the Commission's current methodology of analysing exclusionary conduct by dominant companies.

The judgment concerned the appeal brought before the General Court of the EU (the "Court") by Tomra Systems ASA, a supplier of reverse vending machines that facilitate the collection of empty drink containers ("RVM"), against the decision of 26 March 2006 of the European Commission (the "Commission"). In that decision, the Commission found that Tomra had abused its dominant position in the RVM market in five countries by means of exclusivity agreements, individualised quantity commitments and individualised retroactive rebate systems. The Commission found that the

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