EC ISSUES STATEMENT AGAINST SAS, MAERSK AIR

EC ISSUES STATEMENT AGAINST SAS, MAERSK AIR    The European Commission has sent a statement of objections to SAS and Maersk Air accusing them of having broken European competition rules.
   The EC said it has taken the preliminary view that, by agreeing to share markets, SAS and Maersk Air “have infringed Article 81 of the EC Treaty which prohibits concerted behavior or agreements between companies that have an anticompetitive object or effect.”
   SAS and Maersk Air, a subsidiary of the Danish A.P. Moller group, asked the EC in March 1999 to grant regulatory clearance for a cooperation agreement. However, it appeared from the fact-finding that followed the notification, and from the on-site inspections carried out by the commission in June 2000 at the headquarters of SAS, Maersk Air and A.P. Moller, “that the cooperation was broader in scope than the parties had notified to the commission,” the EC said.
   In the EC’s view, the evidence obtained shows that SAS and Maersk Air had concluded an overall market-sharing agreement, the basis of which is that Maersk Air will not operate new international routes from Copenhagen without a specific request or approval by SAS and, conversely, that SAS will not operate on Maersk Air’s routes out of Jutland, nor on the routes from Copenhagen that are operated by Maersk Air.
   In the statement of objections, the EC said that, taking into account the seriousness of the infringements, it intends to impose fines.
   The companies have been given two months to respond in writing to the commission, and they also have the right to request an oral hearing.