Competition Council reduced the fines applied to the companies for which the sanctioned activity has a weight of less than 5% of the total turnover, said Bogdan Chiriţoiu, the president of the Competition Council.

In this regard, the institution modified the methodology for calculating fines, in order to better comply with the principle of proportionality imposed by the new ECN Plus Directive in the field of competition.

In Romania, the fines applied to companies that violate the regulations in the field of competition are calculated by reference to the total turnover, methodology used by other European countries such as Germany, Spain, Poland, Latvia.

Studies carried out on the basis of data provided by European competition authorities have highlighted the fact that, in terms of amount, the fines applied in Romania are similar to those applied by other Member States of the European Union, unless the share of sales connection with the anti-competitive act in the total turnover is very small (less than 5%).

“There our fines are higher and we can say that they are not proportionate to the deed. The law says that the fines must be severe enough to discourage the violation of the law, but at the same time be proportionate or moderate, not exaggerated. We were already setting a 25% discount if the activity where you broke the law represented less than 20% of your activity, and this reduction is not enough when we talk about very small weights, such as those under 5%. And then we introduced other discounts, of up to 90%,” said Chiriţoiu, according to Agerpres.

As a result, the Competition Council adapted the secondary legislation (instructions on individualization of sanctions) to adjust this discrepancy and to respect the principle of proportionality of the fine with the sanctioned anti-competitive act, by introducing reduction tranches between 25% and 90%, thus ensuring there is equal treatment between Romanian and non-resident companies.

“In essence, we will take into account the volume of sales of goods or services related to the violation, made on the Romanian market. The lower the share of revenues made in Romania in the segment of activity in which the anti-competitive act took place, the higher the discount in fines. At the same time, in order to ensure that the sanction is dissuasive, the fine may be increased taking into account the size and overall resources of the company or the amount of the profits made unlawfully by the company. This methodology was agreed upon by The European Commission, being a step forward in ensuring convergence in accordance with the principles of the ECN Plus Directive,” Chiriţoiu also said.

According to him, all companies will benefit from this additional discount, regardless of whether they are Romanian or foreign.