The European Commission (Commission) has opened formal proceedings against French group Suez Environnement over an alleged breach of a seal affixed to an office during an on-site inspection. The Commission carried out the inspection in April at the premises of the French group's subsidiary, Lyonnaise des Eaux. This is the second time this month that the Commission has commenced proceedings for conduct which is considered to interfere or hamper a dawn raid, sending out a strong signal that the Commission is not prepared to tolerate any form of obstruction.
During April 2010 the Commission carried out surprise inspections in France at the premises of various companies operating in the water and waste water sectors, including Lyonnaise des Eaux, based on suspicions of anti-competitive practices in the sector.
Seals are used by the Commission in order to prevent the destruction or removal of documents, and are often used if the raid is to continue over more than one day. During the inspection at the premises of Lyonnaise des Eaux, a seal affixed on the door of an office was apparently breached. If the Commission finds that seals affixed during an inspection have been breached intentionally or negligently, it can impose a fine on the companies concerned amounting to 1% of their total turnover in the preceding business year.
This is not the first time the Commission has been confronted with an alleged breach of a seal. In January 2008 the Commission fined E.ON €38 million for such a breach (although this decision is currently on appeal). Only last week, the Commission announced the opening of formal proceedings against J&T Group (see Community Week issue 474 ) for alleged obstruction in relation to the handling of e-mail accounts and access to electronic records during a dawn raid.
The European Commission (Commission) has opened formal proceedings against French group Suez Environnement over an alleged breach of a seal affixed to an office during an on-site inspection. The Commission carried out the inspection in April at the premises of the French group's subsidiary, Lyonnaise des Eaux. This is the second time this month that the Commission has commenced proceedings for conduct which is considered to interfere or hamper a dawn raid, sending out a strong signal that the Commission is not prepared to tolerate any form of obstruction.
During April 2010 the Commission carried out surprise inspections in France at the premises of various companies operating in the water and waste water sectors, including Lyonnaise des Eaux, based on suspicions of anti-competitive practices in the sector.
Seals are used by the Commission in order to prevent the destruction or removal of documents, and are often used if the raid is to continue over more than one day. During the inspection at the premises of Lyonnaise des Eaux, a seal affixed on the door of an office was apparently breached. If the Commission finds that seals affixed during an inspection have been breached intentionally or negligently, it can impose a fine on the companies concerned amounting to 1% of their total turnover in the preceding business year.
This is not the first time the Commission has been confronted with an alleged breach of a seal. In January 2008 the Commission fined E.ON €38 million for such a breach (although this decision is currently on appeal). Only last week, the Commission announced the opening of formal proceedings against J&T Group (see Community Week issue 474 ) for alleged obstruction in relation to the handling of e-mail accounts and access to electronic records during a dawn raid.
To view Community Week, Issue 475, 11 June 2010 in full, click here.
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