the French Antitrust inflicts fines for 672 million euros to express society of shipment and couriers



The guarantor French Authority of the competition has endorsed two agreements in the field of the shipment societies and the couriers express comminando an endorsement of 670,9 million euros at the expense of 20 companies and of trade association Transport ET Logistique de France (TLF) relatively to agreements elapsed in the period september 2004 - september a 2010, when through repeated consultations between concurrent societies rises of the annual rates are agreed, and comminando second endorsement of 1,4 million euros at the expense of 15 of these societies and the same TLF, the accused to have defined a common modality for the transfer of a sovrattassa on the diesel fuel. The Authority has explained that in the calculation endorsements the practical duration of the illicit ones has been taken into consideration, of their gravity and the caused damage the economy, included the small and averages enterprises that - it has evidenced the transalpine Authority Antitrust - lacking sufficient being able contractual have been the main victims of these agreements.

The Autorité de the concurrence has announced that the societies participants to the agreements and object of the inquiry are Alloin, BMVirolle, Chronopost, Exapaq (now DPD France), Ciblex, Dachser France, DHL Express France, Fedex Express France, Gefco, Geodis, GLS France, Heppner, Lambert ET Valette, XP France, Norbert Dentressangle Distribution, Normatrans, Schenker-Joyau (now Schenker France), TNT Express France, Transports Henri Ducros and Ziegler France.

With respect to the role of TLF in the event, the evidenced French Antitrust that the association, rather than to carry out own task of vigilance in the respect of the rules of the competition, has actively turned out involved a lot in the organization of illicit exchanges of information that in the maintenance of their confidentiality.

The existence of the first agreement had been capacity to acquaintance of the Authority French Antitrust at the end of 2008 from the railway group German Deutsche Bahn through its controlled Schenker-Joyau (now become Schenker France), while the existence of according to agreement was notified to the Autorité de the concurrence in the course of 2010 from the Alloin society of the Helvetic group Kuehne + Nagel. Alle societies that have denounced the agreements is applied the forgiveness procedure based on which the companies that participate or have participated to an agreement and that of it they reveal the existence to the Authority Antitrust can, to determined conditions, to benefit of an exemption partial total or from the pecuniary endorsement.

Evidencing the extreme importance for the French industry of the field of the transport of packages of the weight less than three tons, the Autorité de the concurrence has remembered that to the age of the facts the turnover in France produced from the field of classic letter posts, with delivery between the 24 and 72 hours, and from the field of the couriers expressed, with delivery within the 24 hours, has been pairs to 8,5 billion euros, and that - even if this turnover is in constant increase - the field of shipments postal-express from years is characterized by a profit much quite negative lowland or, difficulty particularly tied to the structural sovraccapacità that characterizes the field. These low margins - it has found the Antitrust - have had for effect many failures and restructures, in particular in the marked course of 2008 from the disappearance of 11% of the companies of the field. Moreover these financial difficulties have had as consequence the continuous decrease of the occupation in the field, that it is come down from 55.000 places of job in 2004 to 40.000 in 2011.

Transport ET Logistique de France has denounced that the decision of the Antitrust "is assumed in contradiction with the characterizing facts this period, that they demonstrate the lack of concrete effects of the presumed anti-competitive practices". "In fact - the association has remembered, that it represents the French companies of the fields of the transport and the logistics - from on January 5, 2006 the Perben law it has returned the rifatturazione of the sovrattassa obligatory on the diesel oil for all the services of transport, legitimizing so the proposals advanced from the field in 2005. Moreover the prices of classic letter posts and the couriers express are dropped for all the decade, as demonstrate the lead quarterly investigation from the Ministry of Transportation. This explains in fact the heavy losses accumulated from the field and introduced in editions anniversaries of Conti of the Transport".

"In 15 years - it has emphasized moreover trade association - the failures have been multiplied and are cancelled more than fifteen thousand places than job. The endorsements taxes today - it has found ETF - will aggravate ulteriorly the faced structural crisis from this field. The enterprises of greater dimensions, the groups French publics, will be able to make you forehead, but of it will achieve a reduction of their strategic ability. PMI will exit some very weakened, having probably to reduce their nets and to proceed to the necessary adjustments of staff, and could become objectives for international groups interested to acquire their activities. The two international groups that have denounced these practical, being partially exempted from the endorsements - it has observed moreover ETF - could benefit of a competitive advantage". The association has concluded wondering if "the safeguard of the market passes through its destruction" and finding that such question would have to be turned to the Authority Antitrust.