Epilogue of the Plasterboard Litigation: How Much Legal Certainty in the Commission's Treatment of Repeated Infringements?

Abstract

The ruling concerns the enforcement of the Commission’s recidivism policy, i.e. taking into account prior infringements of competition law when calculating the amount of the fine. The ECJ reaffirmed the Commission’s discretion in that area by rejecting any fixed limitation periods and dismissing the appellant’s argument that Commission’s prior infringement decisions have to become definite in order for the Commission to consider the existence of a repeated infringement.