BRUSSELS — The European Commission (EC) has intensified its price-fixing investigation of tire makers.
The agency said it has conducted "unannounced inspections" at a consultancy firm in two European countries over concerns the company may have violated European Union (EU) antitrust rules prohibiting cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).
It did not specify what entities had been the focus of its latest inspections.
The EC said it is concerned that the consultancy firm "may have facilitated or instigated the suspected price coordination" among tire manufacturers, while allegedly using "public communications channels to collude."
The EC said stakeholders "from the relevant national competition authorities of the member states where the inspections were carried out," accompanied EC officials in the inspections.
In late January, the EC began an antitrust investigation into the European tire industry covering new replacement tires for passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses sold in the European Economic Area.
At that time, the EC carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the tire industry in several member states, seeking evidence that some companies may have violated European Union antitrust rule..
The major tire makers known as those being investigated include Bridgestone Corp.; Continental A.G.; Group Michelin; Nokian Tyres P.L.C.; and Pirelli & C. S.p.A.
The EC called unannounced inspections "a preliminary investigatory step into suspected anticompetitive practices," and said the inspections do not mean the companies have committed anti-competitive behavior nor does the EC prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
The EC said there is no legal deadline to complete the investigation, and that a timeline depends on several factors, "including the complexity of each case, the extent to which the companies concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defense."
The EC noted that its leniency program allows companies that have been involved in a secret carte may be granted immunity or be given reduced fines in return for reporting the conduct and cooperating throughout its investigation.