The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), with measure no. I805 published in August 2019, sanctioned numerous companies operating in the corrugated cardboard sector, establishing the existence of two restrictive agreements having as their object the price fixing (Cartels), in the markets of corrugated cardboard sheets and corrugated cardboard packaging.
The measure is one of the most significant in Italy, both in terms of the number of companies involved and the fines imposed, amounting to 287 million euros.
The Lazio Regional Administrative Court, before which thirty companies convicted had acted to request the cancellation of the AGCM ruling or, alternatively, the reduction of the fines, issued 25 sentences on May 24, 2021.
Of the 25 appeals lodged, 21 were entirely rejected, with confirmation of both the anti-competitive conduct and the fines issued. For only four of the appellant companies, on the other hand, participation in the cartels was ruled out.
The position adopted by the Administrative Court was extremely consistent with the results of the preliminary investigation carried out by the Authority, which was considered to be extremely solid, as it was also supported by four leniancy applications.
In all the judgments of rejection, the Court has variously emphasized that “In the case in question, the demonstration of the existence of the agreements and the participation of the applicant is entrusted to a very robust evidentiary framework, consisting of multiple exogenous evidence concerning, in particular, the existence of repeated contacts between the parties, whose significance is corroborated by the statements made by a plurality of leniency applicants; Moreover, the Authority has carried out an adequate analysis of the anti-competitive scope of the agreements, taking into account the economic context in which they took place and the production volume of the operators involved”.
With regard to the exceptions raised by some of the applicants concerning the excessive reliance placed by the AGCM on the declarations of Leniancy, the Tribunal, on the other hand, maintained that “in the case under examination these declarations have certainly contributed to the definition of the probative framework used by the Authority, but have not constituted the only elements in support of the reconstruction of the agreements, since the investigative file contains more than 1000 documents, widely cited and used by the Authority as testified by the entire measure.” (TAR Lazio, sentence 6040/2021).
With regard to the fines imposed, finally, the TAR has in no case accepted the requests for reduction, noting on the contrary that the same have been adequately calculated and motivated by the Authority.
The overall examination of the sentences leads to confirm what has already been pointed out in the reading of the AGCM’s measure I805, that is, that the case of cartels in corrugated cardboard and corrugated cardboard packaging is among the most solid and relevant cases sanctioned so far by the Italian Authority.
