On 28 May 2008, the Investigations Division of the Spanish competition authority, the Comisión Nacional de la Competencia (the "CNC") received a written complaint from the Spanish City of Ceuta in relation to an alleged price-fixing cartel prohibited by Article 1 of the Spanish Competition Act 15/2007 that involved Buquebus España S.A., Acciona Trasmediterránea, S.A., Euromaroc 2000, S.L. and Europa Ferrys S.A. This consisted of the fixing of the prices for the maritime passenger and vehicle transportation service on the Ceuta-Algeciras-Ceuta line during the Easter Week break (from 14 to 27 March 2008). According to the complaint, this conduct stemmed from an agreement between the shipping companies named in the complaint, which proceeded simultaneously to remove the set of offers previously in place and to charge general rates that were extremely similar to those of each other.

On 9 March 2009, the Investigations Division of the CNC resolved to open formal proceedings for restrictive practices prohibited by Article 1 of the Competition Act against Buquebus España S.A., Euromaroc 2000, S.L., Eurolíneas Marítimas, S.A., Europa Ferrys S.A. and Compañía Trasmediterránea, S.A. On 16 December 2009, it extended the proceedings to include FRS Iberia, S.L.

According to the CNC, during particular peak times, known in Spain as "Strait of Gibraltar Crossing Operation Periods", passengers can use any of the ferries that are operating, regardless of which operator they have bought their ticket from. The price at which these companies settle these exchanges is referred to as the exchange rate and it should depend solely on each company's own commercial policies. However, Europa Ferrys S.A. and Compañía Trasmediterránea, S.A. (which make up the Acciona Trasmediterránea Group), and Buquebus España S.A.U. and Euromaroc 2000, S.L. (which make up the Balearia Group), agreed that for Easter Week 2008, they would sell their tickets to the public at the same price and apply the same exchange rate, thereby abandoning any competition in relation to prices.

This type of agreement was repeated in summer 2008, and FRS Iberia S.L., which was starting to operate on the same line, instead of competing with the existing operators, joined in the arrangement. The following summer, the companies again reached an agreement with respect to pricing, and came to a joint decision to re-apply the 2008 rates in 2009.

The CNC has proved that the companies were in contact with one another and exchanging information on the prices charged by each of them, finally agreeing on a common price or rate that was significantly higher than that charged by any one of them prior to the agreement. The result is that selling prices to the public were increased thereby prejudicing the end user.

The companies argued for the existence of legal protection and legitimate expectation, as the periods in question were periods for which the Secretary General for Transport regulates the exchangeability of tickets. However, not only does this regulation not condone price-fixing, but also the companies concerned were aware of the illegal nature of what they were doing, as they had previously been fined for similar practices. Furthermore, the earlier fines imposed by the former Spanish Competition Authority (Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia) had been ratified by the National Appeal Court and the Supreme Court.

The CNC therefore resolved to impose fines totalling €3.8 million, on Trasmediterránea (€2 million), Balearia (€1,3 million), and FRS Iberia (€0,5 million) for a price-fixing agreement in relation to the maritime passenger transportation service between Algeciras and Ceuta at peak times during various holiday periods in 2008 and 2009.

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