Sector inquiries, cartel prosecution, merger control and abuse proceedings - the Bundeskartellamt can look back on 2011 as an eventful and successful year.

Sector Inquiries
The results of the authority's main sector inquiries received much public attention.
The electricity wholesale markets were analysed in unprecedented detail. The study revealed areas of potential abuse and laid the necessary groundwork for establishing the market transparency unit planned by the German Federal Government and for defining its tasks. It also showed that a real-time supervision of these markets is absolutely essential to guarantee that they function according to market conditions.
The Fuel Sector Inquiry uncovered the structures of an oligopoly of the five major oil companies on the German petrol station markets. An analysis of the markets and the discovery of an exact pricing pattern supported the working basis of the Bundeskartellamt in this sector. On the basis of this knowledge, further concentration in this market can be prevented by means of merger control and residual competition by the independent petrol stations protected.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, stated: "Our decisions have a strong impact on economic processes. We therefore have to carry out our economic analysis with great care. We have recently invested extensive personnel resources and expertise in order to further improve ourselves in this area. This is also reflected in the quality of our sector inquiries, e.g. into electricity wholesale or petrol station markets. The high economic standard of our analyses allows us to clearly identify competition problems and to react appropriately. Our next major project is our sector inquiry into buyer power in the food retail trade."

Cartel prosecution:
In 2011 approx. € 193 million in fines were imposed on 42 companies in a total number of 17 cases. Cartels were fined in diverse economic sectors such as paper plates, fire engines, concrete pipes, dishwasher detergent, chipboard panels, mills and hydrants.  The authority's Leniency Programme again played an instrumental role in uncovering cartels. 37 applications for leniency were received in 28 different cases. In the past year the Bundeskartellamt conducted 11 searches at 42 companies and at the premises of 5 private individuals.

President Andreas Mundt: "Cartel prosecution will continue to remain a key area of focus in our future work. We have started a series of new proceedings which we intend to rigorously pursue and bring to swift conclusion."

Merger Control
Of over 1,100 merger projects notified, 15 were examined in more detail in so-called second phase proceedings. The project notified by RTL and Pro7Sat1 as well as plans by Tönnies Holding to acquire a rival slaughterhouse had to be prohibited. Clearance in the Liberty/Kabel BW case was made possible by far-reaching commitments by the parties, which opened up new opportunities for competition. EDEKA had to abandon most of its acquisition plans in order to ultimately be able to acquire some outlets of the medium-sized food retailer Ratio.

Prospects
The authority will conclude or push ahead with a number of important pending proceedings in 2012. The examination of plans by the DFL for the new award of TV broadcasting rights is nearing conclusion. Early next year the Bundeskartellamt will also give its final decision in the proceedings against the Berlin water provider Berliner Wasserbetriebe. The authority is also working intensively on the cartel proceedings against food retailers and manufacturers on the suspicion of vertical price agreements.

Andreas Mundt: "Next year will also witness some institutional changes. These concern, in particular, the energy sector, as from 1st January 2012 the Bundeskartellamt will be responsible for monitoring competitive markets, and the planned establishment of the market transparency unit, which as a "market monitoring body" can also play an instrumental role in the turnaround in energy policy."

The Act against Restraints of Competition is currently being amended. The Bundeskartellamt welcomes the ministry draft submitted in November by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology but still sees room for improvement in some areas.

Andreas Mundt: "The proposals on merger control are convincing. However, these should go even further in other areas such as fine procedures or the supervision of water providers.” (Further information on this can be found in the Bundeskartellamt's comments on the ministry draft (see download on webpage ). (available only in German).

The social courts have denied the applicability of competition law to key areas of the health sector. The legislator is called upon to close this loophole to allow the Bundeskartellamt to effectively monitor mergers between the health insurance funds and agreements between them in future.