News Release
Mario Monti
No. 143/04
October 19, 2004
EU COMMISSION CLOSE TO SETTLEMENT IN ANTITRUST PROBE OF
COCA-COLA PRACTICES IN EUROPE
The European Commission today received commitments from
The Coca-Cola Company regarding its business practices in the European Union.
Commissioner Monti
considers that the commitments are sufficient for a settlement decision, which
will close a five-year probe. They will bring more competition to the European
market for carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) and increase consumer choice in shops
and at cafés. The commitments will be published for third-party comments before
becoming final. This is only the second[1]
draft settlement decision to be reached since a new EU
Antitrust Regulation came into force last May and the first one to apply Europe-wide.
“The commitments entered into by Coca-Cola will level the playing field
in the carbonated soft drinks markets in Europe. Thanks to the Commission’s action
consumers will generally have more choice at cafés, pubs and shops and will, therefore,
be in a position to choose on the basis of price and personal preferences rather
than pick up a Coca-Cola product because it’s the only one on offer,” said
EU Competition
Commissioner Mario Monti.
The commitments were presented at a meeting today in Brussels by Coca-Cola
Chairman Neville Isdell in the name of his company and of the three major anchor
Coca-Cola bottlers. The commitments foresee:
• No more exclusivity arrangements. At all times, Coca-Cola customers will
remain free to buy and sell carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) from any supplier of
their choice. Obviously, where large, private-sector customers and public authorities
organise a competitive tender for their supplies and Coca-Cola provides the best
offer, it can be the only CSD supplier.
• No target and growth rebates. Coca-Cola will no longer offer any rebates that
reward its customers purely for purchasing the same amount or more of Coca-Cola’s
products than in the past. This should make it easier for Coca-Cola’s customers
to purchase from other CSD suppliers if they so wish.
• No use of Coca-Cola’s strongest brands to sell less popular products. Coca-Cola
will not require that a customer who only wants to buy one or more of its best-selling
brands (e.g., Coke Regular or Fanta Orange) also has to purchase other Coca-Cola
products, such as its Sprite or its Vanilla Coke.
Similarly, Coca-Cola will no longer offer a rebate to its customers if the
customer commits to buy these other products together with its best-selling products
or to reserve shelf space for the entire group of products.
• 20% of free space in Coca-Cola’s coolers. Where Coca-Cola provides a free
cooler and there is no other chilled beverage capacity in the outlet to which
the consumer has a direct access, the outlet operator will be free to use at least
20% of the cooler provided by Coca-Cola for any product of its choosing.
The Coca-Cola commitments will be published in the EU’s Official
Journal. If their robustness is confirmed, they will become binding on
the company through a so-called “commitment decision.” If Coca-Cola were to breach
the commitment decision later, a fine could be imposed.
The possibility to make voluntary commitments binding on a company was introduced
by Article 9 of the new Antitrust Regulation (1/2003)
which entered into force in May.
[1]
See
IP/04/1110,
of 17 September 2004 (“New cartel procedure used for the first time forthe
liberalisation of the central marketing of Bundesliga rights”)
