Netherlands: Heineken to appeal against European Commission decision

Heineken N.V. announced it will file an appeal against the decision of the European Commission for an alleged infringement of European Union anti trust law between 1996 and 1999, according to company’s press release, June 1. The European Commission issued the decision on April 18, 2007 following a seven-year process that began in March 2000. Heineken received the full decision on April 25, 2007.

Having now studied the full decision in detail, it is clear that there remain significant differences of interpretation and disagreement on some of the company’s arguments. In particular, Heineken acknowledged in its original defence that various meetings and contacts took place between the brewers, some of them nearly 12 years ago. The European Commission though failed to accept Heineken’s assertion that these meetings did not constitute a cartel.

Heineken has in place a strong competition compliance policy across the entire business and has a comprehensive code of business conduct for all employees. Both processes are subject to annual review or audit, and compliance to competition law is recognised as being an important business principle.

Given that the issues relating to the European Commission decision are now part of a formal, legal process, Heineken will not comment further on its decision to appeal.