Heineken to appeal against European Commission decision

Only a few weeks after it was fined almost EUR 220 million for having set up a Dutch beer cartel in the 1990s, Heineken announced that it will file an appeal against the decision of the European Commission.

In April Heineken was fined EUR 219.3 million, Grolsch was fined EUR 31.7 million while Bavaria was sanctioned EUR 22.9 million by the European Commission. Although InBev too was involved in the illegal activity, it received no fines as the Belgian brewer acted as the cartel whistleblower.

Having studied the full decision in detail, Heineken said it is clear that there remain significant differences of interpretation and disagreement on some of the company’s arguments. In particular, Heineken acknowledged in its original defence that various meetings took place between the brewers, some of them nearly 12 years ago. However, The European Commission failed to accept Heineken’s assertion that these meetings did not constitute a cartel.

Given that the issues relating to the European Commission decision are now part of a formal, legal process, Heineken will not comment further on its decision to appeal.