The Court of Justice of the European Union (CUEJ) ruled in favor of the European purchasing center of the E. Leclerc group against Bercy, which accused it of not respecting French legislation by considering French courts incompetent on the matter, according to the decision consulted by AFP, and confirming information from LSA and Les Echos.
“Next step before the Paris Court of Appeal”
“We have taken note of the CJEU ruling and we will analyze it in detail to determine our position during the rest of the procedure. The next step will be in a few weeks before the Paris Court of Appeal,” he added on Monday, he said. December 26 Ministry of Economy to AFP.
According to the ruling handed down last Thursday, Bercy had carried out an investigation between 2016 and 2018 “that led him to suspect the existence of possibly restrictive practices of competition implemented in Belgium by Eurelec with respect to suppliers established in France.”
Eurelec, a Belgian law company, is a purchasing center founded by the French group E. Leclerc and the German group Rewe.
“Indeed, according to this investigation, Eurelec would force suppliers to accept price reductions without compensation, in violation of the Commercial Code, and would impose on them the application of Belgian law to the contracts concluded, in order to circumvent French law “, keep going. the CUEJ, explaining the object of the controversy.
The Paris Commercial Court had declared itself competent to judge the case, but Eurelec had objected that a French court could not have jurisdiction in the matter and had therefore appealed against this decision.
The Paris Court of Appeal appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled in favor of Eurelec.
In September 2020, the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Prevention imposed a fine of 6.34 million euros on Eurelec for “alleged breach of French regulations regarding the formality of negotiations between suppliers and distributors”.
Source: BFM TV
