EEC Commission Decision of 8 September 1977 Relating to a Proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty with Respect to the Belgian and Dutch Manufacturers of Printing Paper and Stationery (77/592 EEC)

• Author: Raymond Vouel
• Published date: 01 September 1978
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X7802300307
• Date: 01 September 1978
• Subject Matter: Article

EEC

COMMISSION

D'ECISION

OF 8

SEPTEMBER

1977

RELATING TO A

PROCEEDIN,G

UNDER

ARTICLE

85

OF THE

EEC

TREATY

WITH

RESPECT

TO THE

BELGIAN AND DUTCH MANUFACTURERS OF

PRINTING

PAPER

AND STATIONERY

(77/592

EEC)

THE

COMMISSION

OF

THE

EUROPEAN

COMMUNITIES,

Having

regard

to the

Treaty

establishing the

European

Economic Community,

and

in

particular

Article 85 thereof,

Having

regard

to Regulation No. 17 of 6

February

1962/

and

in

particular

Articles 3, 4

and

5thereof,

Having

regard

to the notifications to the Commission made

on 30

and

31 October

196~

by the Vereeniging van Neder-

landsche

Papierfabrikanten

(VNP),

Haarlem, Netherlands,

andthe

Association des

Fabricants

de

Pates,

Papiers

et Car-

tons de Belgique

(COBELPA),

Brussels, Belgium,

pursuant

to Article 5 of Regulation No 17, concerning the exchange of

statistical and price information

and

mutual observance of

conditions of business in

printing

paper

and

stationery,

Having

regard

to the Commission Decision of 4

June

1976

to initiate aproceeding,

Having

heard

the undertakings

and

associations of under-

takings concerned in accordance with Article 19 (1) of Regu-

lation No 17

and

with Regulation No

99j63jEEC

of 25

July

1963,2

Having

regard

to the opinion delivered on 18

April

1977

by the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices

and

Dominant Positions in accordance with Article 10 of Regula-

tion No 17,

1

OJ

No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62.

2

OJ

No 127, 20. 8. 1963, p. 2268/63.

639

640

Whereas:

THE

ANTITRUST

BULLETIN

I. THE

FACTS

The facts may be summarized as follows:

1. Undertakings; market structure

1. The Belgian

and

Dutch

paper

industry

federations,

COBELPA

and

VNP, notified the Commission on 31 and 30

October 1962 respectively of concerted practices between Bel-

gian and Dutch manufacturers of

printing

paper

and

sta-

tionery. The undertakings currently concerned

are

the fol-

lowing:

(a) in Belgium:

SA Papeteries de Belgique, Bruxelles,

SA Intermills, La Hulpe,

SA

Papeteries

de Virginal, Virginal;

(b) in the Netherlands:

Kon. Papierfabrieken Van Gelder Zonen NV, Amster-

dam,

Gelderland-Tielens Papierfabrieken BV, Nijmegen,

NV Papierfabrieken

Van

Houtum &Palm, Apeldoorn,

Papierfabriek

Huiskamp &Sander NV, Eerbeek,

Kon. Nederlandsche

Papierfabriek

NV, Maastricht.

2. The most important Belgian

and

Dutch manufacturers

of

printing

paper

and stationery

are

in this list of undertak-

ings, which account in their respective countries

for

between

80

and

90% of domestic output (annual Belgian

output-

excluding

newsprint-is

around

360 000 tonnes

and

Dutch out-

put

is

around

480000 tonnes)."

The

market

for

printing

paper

and stationery extends to a

variety of products of differing qualities.

Apart

from news-

3Average

for

1974

and

1975.

SOURCE:

SOEC

Industrial

Statistics.