EU exec raids suspected French biomedical cartel
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission confirmed on Thursday it had raided the French premises of a business association and an enterprise both active on the biomedical analysis market, on suspicion of cartel activity.
The raids were carried out on Wednesday by Commission inspectors accompanied by officials at the French competition authority, it said. The parties were not identified.
“It (Commission) has reason to believe that the (EU legal) provisions … prohibiting cartels, restrictive business practices and/or abuse of a dominant position … have been infringed,” the European Union executive said in a statement.
The Commission is the 27-country EU’s antitrust watchdog and has powers to fine companies up to 10 percent of their global annual revenue for competition abuses.
There is no strict time limit for the Commission to complete its investigations of anti-competitive practices. Their duration depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of each case, the extent to which the undertakings concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defense.
(Reporting by Dale Hudson; editing by Mark John)
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