Cartels & Leniency In France

Extract

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Cartels & Leniency In France

This article first appeared in the second edition of The

International Comparative Legal Guide to: Cartels &

Leniency; published by Global Legal Group Ltd, London www.iclg.co.uk

1 The Legislative Framework of the Cartel

Prohibition

1.1 What is the legal basis and general nature of the

cartel prohibition, e.g. is it civil and/or criminal?

Anticompetitive agreements and practices are prohibited by

Article L. 420-1 of the French Commercial Code (the

"Code"). It applies to any undertakings, in the form of

either companies or individuals, and may lead to

civil/administrative and, in certain cases, to criminal sanctions

(see the answer to question 3.2).

1.2 What are the specific substantive provisions for the cartel

prohibition?

The cartel prohibition applies to any concerted practices,

agreements and alliances, express or tacit, which have as their

object or may have as their effect to prevent, restrict or distort

competition in a market, and in particular with the aim to:

limit access to markets by, or competition from, other

firms;

interfere with price setting by market forces, by artificially

increasing or decreasing prices;

limit or control production, markets, investment or technical

development; or

share markets or sources of supply.

However, under the so-called "de minimis" rules, the

French competition authority may decide not to instruct cases

concerning agreements or practices:

between actual or potential competitors ("horizontal

agreements") whose combined market share does not exceed 10

per cent; or

between companies that are not actual or potential co...

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