The EU-Level Approach to Parental Liability and Its Impact on the Imposition and Construction of Antitrust Fines

Abstract

This chapter examines the most important consequence for the parent company once it has been deemed to be responsible for the antitrust violation of its subsidiary: it examines the sanction—the antitrust fine—that is imposed upon that parent company by the European Commission (the Commission). It first analyses the availability and operation of joint and several liability as an enforcement feature of EU competition law when antitrust fines are imposed upon parent companies under the doctrine of parental antitrust liability. It then examines the specific impact of the EU-level doctrine of parental antitrust liability on the magnitude of the fines imposed by the Commission upon parent companies. It focuses particularly on the operation of the 10% fining cap, the application of the deterrence multiplier, and the implementation of the Commission’s policy on recidivism. In doing so, the chapter provides a comprehensive account of the specific EU-level sanction that faces a parent company that is held responsible for its subsidiary’s antitrust violation.