EU Court Cuts Arkema Acrylic Glass Cartel Fine

French chemicals company Arkema won an appeal on Tuesday against a 219.1 million euro EU antitrust fine after Europe's second-highest court said regulators' decision to impose a hefty penalty was excessive.

The Luxembourg-based General Court reduced the 2006 fine imposed by the European Commission on Arkema and its units for participating in a cartel in the acrylic glass sector to €113.3 million. The original fine had been calculated on the basis of the worldwide turnover of Total, which was the parent company at the time, along with Elf Aquitaine.

The court upheld the fines levied on the parent companies, Total and Elf Aquitaine, for their roles in the cartel that ran from 1997-2002, which shared pricing and sensitive information. But the court said in a statement that the spin-off of Arkema, which took place shortly before the Commission ruling, meant the large deterrent effect of the fine was not justified for the separated company.

"The Court accordingly holds that the 200 percent increase is excessive in respect of them and that a 25% increase is adequate to ensure a sufficiently deterrent effect of the fine imposed on them," the court ruled.

The penalty was participation in a cartel in the methacrylates sector, commonly known as acrylic glass.

Total was originally held liable for €140.4 million in fines, while Elf Aquitaine was liable for the payment of €181.35 million.

The merged Total-Elf Aquitaine group spun off chemicals group Arkema in 2006.