By Decision No 634/29.06.2023 delivered under case CPC/350/2022, the Commission for the protection of competition imposed a pecuniary sanction on Miele Bulgaria EOOD in the amount of 1 609 078 BGN for an infringement of Art. 15 of the Law on protection of competition and under Art. 101 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, manifested in participation in resale price maintenance agreement for the end consumers with the retailers of Miele-branded appliances.
The proceedings were initiated by an application by Miele Center Max Group EOOD. Based on the collected evidence, the Commission has established that the supplier of electric appliances and the retailers have coordinated the resale prices, which limits the competition on the retail market for middle to high and for high class domestic electric appliances on the national territory. In the course of the investigation the Commission has established that Miele Bulgaria EOOD has been sending price lists and instructions for promotional activities, which had mandatory nature due to the imposed pressure, compliance control and incentives. The aim of this agreement is to eliminate the price competition between the retailers and to limit their freedom to independently set the prices of the offered products as a result of the competition pressure on the market. Only when undertakings are free to determine their resale prices competitive process on the respective market is unhindered. With an agreement as the one in question, the traders are deprived of the opportunity to lower the prices as a reaction to the price competition pressure, which further deprives the end consumers of benefitting from more favorable prices.
This conduct constitutes prohibited agreement both under national law and under European Union law, since restricting the territory of the country it may significantly affect the pattern of trade between Member States. In the course of the proceedings, the Commission cooperated with the European Commission and coordinated the decision in fulfillment of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
The decision of the Commission may be appealed before Administrative Court – Sofia Region by the parties to the proceedings or by any third person that has legal interest within a term of 14 days.
The full text of the Decision is available in the public electronic register of the CPC at https://reg.cpc.bg
