The new settlement procedure, going into effect immediately, is part of a broader Commission strategy to better tackle increasing cartel activity within the bloc. Since 2004, fines raised by the Commission have increased almost five-fold, from €700 million to over €3.3 billion in 2007.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said "this new settlements procedure will reinforce deterrence by helping the Commission deal more quickly with cartel cases, freeing up resources to open new investigations".
Under the new rules, companies that are convinced that the Commission could prove their involvement in a cartel can ask for a settlement with the latter, which would then reveal some of its evidence to the companies under suspicion.
Those can then opt to settle the investigation immediately in return for a fixed 10%-penalty discount or continue to contest the case.
Lawyers and businesses are very much in favour of these deals, considering them as a means of reducing the length of a case. But they criticised the small scope of the fine reduction, describing it as "disappointing". They had hoped for reductions of at least 25%, believing 10% to be too low an incentive to settle cases.
The Commission pointed out that its settlement procedure is different from a US style plea-bargaining system because its fine discounts are not negotiable.
Higher discharges are possible under the Commission's existing leniency programme, offering companies a full amnesty if they are the first to report a cartel and can provide useful information about other members.
