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Germany: Nation says prison for antitrust violations is too harsh

By  |  November 20, 2014

The head of Germany’s Federal Cartel Office is speaking out against criminal sanctions, including prison time, for antitrust violators, reports say.

The watchdog says such punishments are “severe weapons” and excessive, arguing that competition authorities have sufficient power, including fines, to deter anticompetitive conduct.

Federal Cartel Office head Andreas Mundt noted that only a few EU nations treat antitrust violations as crimes. “In Europe, there’s simply no consensus that something like this should be punished as a crime,” he said. “A cartel violation is rarely a crystal clear matter like a theft – the lines are often blurred, so that’s not something where we should use the severe weapons of criminal law.”

The remarks were made at an event hosted by the GFR Society for Law and Policy.

Full content: Businessweek

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