A total of 15 automakers in Europe are subject to fines amounting to €458 million for collusion in recycling of used units.

There is talk of a cartel in which Stellantis, Mitsubishi, Ford, BMW, Hyundai/Kia, Jaguar Land Rover/Tata, Mazda, Renault/Nissan, Opel, General Motors, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo participated for 15 years. Mercedes-Benz was not sanctioned, although it was part of the group because it had reported its existence.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, announced the fine on Tuesday, April 1, noting that “these car manufacturers coordinated for more than 15 years to avoid paying for recycling services.”

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera issued a statement with the information, indicating that the 15 companies “acknowledged their participation and responsibility in the cartel, and therefore benefited from reduced fines.”

It was learned that in addition to the manufacturers, the Commission “also fined the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).”

Regarding the crime, it is based on so-called End-of-Life Vehicles; that is, vehicles that are no longer suitable for use. “These vehicles must be dismantled and processed for recycling and disposal. According to the Commission, the investigation confirmed that ACEA was the facilitator of the cartel.”

Investigators found a single and continuous breach of European Competition rules that extended from May 2002 to September 2017, during which time manufacturers “agreed to classify the recycling of end-of-life vehicles as a sufficiently profitable business, allowing them to avoid paying companies that dismantle them for their services.”

M.Pino

Source: DW

(Reference image: Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on X/Twitter and Instagram

La entrada EU fined 15 major automakers for collusion in recycling of used units apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, the group known as OPEC +, agreed on Wednesday to keep their plans to increase crude production by 400,000 barrels a day, the cartel reported in a statement.

OPEC + met this Wednesday like every month to assess the situation of the oil market and decide what adjustments to make to its production.

The cartel stressed that, despite the effects of the pandemic on uncertainty, oil market fundamentals have “strengthened” in recent weeks and OECD crude stocks have continued to fall as the recovery has sped up.

According to the plan they decided in July, OPEC + will increase its production by 400,000 barrels a day each month until completely reversing the cut to production of 5.8 million barrels a day that they agreed to last year.

After knowing this decision, the price of oil futures contracts has not registered large changes. A barrel of Brent, the benchmark in Europe, has reached 71.25 dollars, 0.5 % less, while West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark barrel in the United States, has fallen 0.45 %, to 68, $ 16.

The next inter-ministerial meeting of the OPEC countries and their allies will take place on October 4.

Source: dpa

La entrada OPEC + agreed to maintain production increase at 400,000 barrels per day apareció primero en Bitfinance.