Netherlands: European Commission accuses 4 Dutch brewers for breaching EU competition rules

The brewers Heineken, Grolsch, Bavaria and the Dutch branch of Belgium's Interbrew are suspected by the European Commission of having breached European Union competition rules in the Netherlands in the period before 2000, the Business Report announced on September 2.

The European Commission affirmed it had evidence that rival beer companies in the Netherlands agreed on prices, allocated customers, discussed individual customers and exchanged commercially important and confidential information.

All 4 brewers were officially informed that a formal case was being made. The companies have two months to respond in writing. If found guilty, the EU can fine them up to 10 % of their annual sales.

The investigation has been running for years, after Dutch authorities raided the brewers five years ago at the commission request. The same kind of investigations are conducted in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Italy.