After Record Cartel Fine for Rewe: ECHR Complaint Planned

"The court had mandated the payment and we have already paid the fine," said Rewe International in response to an APA inquiry. The reason for the fine was the failure to timely report a business space acquisition in Wels to the Federal Competition Authority (BWB).

Rewe is currently preparing an individual complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) due to the record cartel fine, as they feel several rights have been violated. The "Standard" (Wednesday edition) was the first to report on the planned complaint. "We will submit this application to the ECHR within the 4-month deadline," Rewe explained to the APA.

Rewe: Judgment "Massively Disproportionate"

After the verdict was announced, the food retailer criticized the "exorbitant penalty" in euros for "a formal violation" as "massively disproportionate." "The alleged offense - the non-reporting of the location - did not lead to any economic advantages for Rewe International AG," the supermarket chain emphasized at the time. The Supreme Court, as the cartel court, had massively increased the fine for Rewe from 1.5 million euros to 70 million euros. The German Rewe Group includes Adeg, Billa, Billa Plus, Bipa, and Penny in Austria.

The court justifies the record cartel fine on 21 pages: "Fines under the Cartel Act pursue preventive and repressive purposes, which requires an appropriate amount, otherwise no deterrent effect is achieved," explained the cartel court in its decision. As the Supreme Court, it has "already repeatedly clarified that in Austria, too, fines of a magnitude are to be imposed for effective combating of cartel violations, as has long been customary at the Union level and in numerous member states."

Record Cartel Fine Also Attracts Attention Among Lawyers

Constitutional lawyer Heinz Mayer views the Rewe cartel fine critically. The Supreme Court has "undertaken an unconstitutional extensive interpretation," the lawyer recently wrote in a guest commentary in the "Standard." The Supreme Court decision is thus "based on an unconstitutional decision" and is "therefore as unconstitutional as this."

For cartel law expert Peter Stockenhuber from the University of Vienna, the cartel court decision regarding Rewe is completely understandable. "The Supreme Court is merely correcting a gross misjudgment of the cartel court," Stockenhuber said to the APA in early February. Failing to report a merger to the BWB is "not a trivial offense." The cartel court has long been told by the Supreme Court that "cartel fines should be raised to an international level," according to Stockenhuber. The cartel expert also referred to the Spar case in 2015, where the Supreme Court, as the cartel court, increased the fine originally imposed by the cartel court from 3 million euros to 30 million euros tenfold. The professor of cartel law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Viktoria Robertson, described the record fine for Rewe as a "bombshell" to "Ö1." From the BWB's perspective, the Supreme Court has made a "directional decision."

(APA/Red)

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