Law360, New York (June 13, 2013, 4:05 PM ET) -- Europe's high court on Thursday upheld a €181.5 million ($241.6 million) rubber cartel fine against Eni SpA and its Versalis SpA unit, shooting down Versalis' arguments that the European Commission imposed too steep a penalty and made several other mistakes.
The European Court of Justice, the European Union's highest court, ruled against an appeal in which Versalis challenged the EC's fines over the company's role in fixing prices on two kinds of synthetic rubber used in tires and other products. The EU high court also found against a cross-appeal lodged by the EC, which challenged a lower court's decision to cut more than €90 million from the original €272.25 million fine leveled against Versalis and its parent, the Italian energy company Eni.
In its appeal, Versalis challenged the EC's decision on several grounds, including that the antitrust regulator improperly based the fine on a classification of the cartel infringement as “very serious,” and that it should not have been held jointly liable with Syndial SpA, another Eni subsidiary, for the entire duration of the cartel.
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