ECJ BLOCKS COMMISSION FINE INTEREST GRAB
October 1st, 2006
BY KEITH NUTHALL
ITALIAN steel manufacturer Ferriere Nord SpA has defeated a European Commission grab for Euro 341,932 claimed unpaid fines from a 1989 welded steel mesh competition case. Ferriere has persuaded the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the Commission took too long claim the money, so the penalties became time-barred.
The case was a tortuous affair starting with an initial fine in 1989 of 320,000 ECUs, or European currency units, the virtual currency used by the Commission before the Euro launch in 1999. The ECU had exchange rates with the now expired ...
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