Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Intel won a verdict in favour of the EU Court of Justice, but the commission imposed a lower fine for the same violations last year.
US chipmaker Intel has succeeded in a major fight in a long-running antitrust lawsuit spanning 15 years. The EU Court of Justice (CJEU) has today on 24 October supported a previous judgment from the General Court, which had headed in favour of Intel, discharging a €1.06bn fine set by the European Commission.
Why was Intel fined for anticompetitive practices in 2009?
The penalty was brought against Intel in 2009 for “abuse of a dominant market position”, with the Commission stating the chipmaker had committed anticompetitive practices such as delivering rebates to computer manufacturers to give itself an unjust advantage over rival AMD.
“Such rebates and payments effectively prevented customers, and ultimately consumers, from choosing alternative products”, the Commission stated at the time. “By undermining competitors’ ability to compete on the merits of their products, Intel’s actions undermined competition and innovation.”
Intel pleaded the decision and in 2022, the EU’s General Court, the EU’s second-highest court, toppled the fine, stating the Commission’s analysis was incomplete, making it unattainable to establish the legal standard around whether or not the rebates were capable of having anticompetitive effects.
How did the EU Commission respond after the general court ruling?
In reaction, the Commission undertook an appeal with the CJEU, but today’s judgement stated it “rejects all of the grounds of appeal raised by the Commission”. While the €1.06bn fine has been put to bed. Last year, the Commission reimposed a lower fine of €376.36m for manipulating its dominant market standing in the computer chips sector between 2002 and 2006.
EU Commissioner for Competition Policy Didier Reynders expressed the fine was reimposed because Intel used its dominant position in a way that is “illegal under our competition rules”.
“Intel paid its customers to limit, delay or cancel the sale of products containing computer chips of its main rival,” Reynders expressed. “Our decision shows the Commission’s commitment to ensure that very serious antitrust breaches do not go unsanctioned.”
