Belgian Competition Authority Imposes Fines on Account of Bid Rigging for Railway Infrastructure Products

• 04/05/2017
• Articles

The Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) announced today that it has issued fines for a total amount of EUR 1,779,000 in a bid rigging case (see attached press release in three language versions). While not involving pharmaceutical companies, the case confirms the general determination of the BCA to tackle collusive behaviour in response to public procurement procedures. On 31 January 2017, the BCA had already published a guide on the subject in order to help procurement managers of public bodies and other institutions bound by the public procurement rules deal with anticompetitive conduct of potential suppliers.
 
The Dutch and French language versions of the guide can be retrieved from the following links: Dutch | French 

In the case made public today, the BCA fined suppliers of railway network infrastructure which had colluded to divide markets resulting from calls for tenders issued by railway network operator Infrabel. The BCA had started an investigation in 2013 on the basis of a leniency application submitted by ABB which managed to escape a fine. The BCA meted out fines for AEG, Sécheron, Schneider and Siemens. AEG and Schneider benefitted from leniency reductions because they also shared sensitive information with the BCA, while each of the parties were given a separate 10% reduction of the fine because they agreed to a settlement that will prevent them from appealing the BCA’s decision.
 
Remarkably, the BCA accepted as a mitigating circumstance the fact that specific Infrabel employees had disclosed information to the parties which facilitated their collusive behaviour.