European Union: ECJ Confirms The Extradition Of Italian National To The US For Alleged Participation In Marine Hose Cartel

On 28 January 2015, the European Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") rejected the appeal brought by Italian citizen Romano Pisciotti concerning the legality of his extradition to the US on cartel charges as clearly unfounded and inadmissible.

The extradition came at the request of the US authorities, which investigated suspected bid-rigging and anti-competitive price agreements affecting the supply of marine hoses from 1986 until 2007. This conduct was also subject to fines totalling € 131.51 million imposed by the European Commission in January 2009 (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2009, No. 1, available at www.vbb.com).

In this context, the US authorities had charged Mr Pisciotti with participating in the conspiracy and had placed him on the "Red Notice" list maintained by Interpol. On 17 June 2013, Mr Pisciotti was arrested at Frankfurt airport, where he was changing planes on his way back to Italy from Nigeria. In August 2013, the US authorities officially requested Germany to extradite Mr Pisciotti under the terms of the extradition treaty between the US and Germany. The German Higher Regional Court authorised the extradition of Mr Pisciotti after reviewing the US authorities' extradition file (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2014, No. 4, available at www.vbb.com).

In April 2014, the European Commission rejected the plea brought by Mr Pisciotti, which argued that the Commission should act against Germany, pursuant to Article 258 TFEU, as when arresting him Germany breached the principle of the freedom to provide services. The Commission concluded that EU law did not apply. Mr Pisciotti subsequently appealed this decision before the General Court ("GC") but the appeal was ultimately declared inadmissible. Mr Pisciotti further appealed to the ECJ.

In its order, the ECJ ruled that Mr Pisciotti's appeal was in part: (i) clearly unfounded because the GC had committed no error of law; and (ii) clearly inadmissible because Mr Pisciotti was challenging the Commission decision and not the GC order.

This case marks the first time a person has been successfully extradited to the US on the basis of his involvement in a cartel. The US authorities previously succeeded in securing the extradition of Ian Norris from the UK in connection with the carbon graphite cartel, but that extradition ultimately proceeded due to Mr Norris's participation in conduct designed to obstruct the course of justice, rather than due to his involvement in the cartel itself (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2010, No. 3, available at www.vbb.com).

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