Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-306"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071023.25.2-306"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Since the beginning of its current term and up to the end of September 2007, the Commission has adopted 21 decisions imposing fines on companies that have infringed the anti-trust rules.
The total fines imposed during that period amount to just over EUR 5.2 billion, 95% of which has been imposed on cartel participants.
However, it should be borne in mind that such fines become part of the European budget only once they are final: that is, if no appeal has been lodged by the undertaking on which a fine has been imposed or when all possible appeals have been rejected by the European courts.
As companies frequently challenge the validity of the Commission decisions imposing fines, a large part of the amount mentioned above is not final, so to speak.
The possible use of the proceeds of fines for additional activities, as suggested by the honourable Member, is prevented by legal constraints. Such use would run counter to the budgetary principle of universality as set out in Articles 17 to 20 of the current Financial Regulation.
According to that principle, total revenue covers total expenditure without any specific link between a given item of revenue and a given item of expenditure.
The basic objective of anti-trust fines as laid out in the preamble to the 2006 guidelines on the method of setting fines is to ensure deterrence, in other words to discourage companies from behaving illegally.
In time it is to be hoped that the levels of abuse, and hence the number and volume of fines imposed, will decrease as complying levels increase and we are still doing our job properly."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples