[Ferro-alloys.com]EC officials last week confirmed that they started a preliminary investigation into the secondary lead industry in Europe both for SLI batteries and all lead- bearing scrap. According to informed sources, the Commission has reason to believe that the companies may have violated Article 101 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) which prohibits cartels and restrictive business practices. After collecting all the data, the Commission usually takes three to 12 months to review it. If it finds enough evidence of wrongdoing, the Commission will start a formal investigation. If not, the matter is dropped. A decision on whether there was an illegal action takes up to a year after the investigation starts. And, that decision could be appealed in court. A whistle blower can escape prosecution so there is an incentive to fully cooperate with authorities. On the other hand, a guilty party could be fined up to 10% of the company’s global turnover, and in some cases the fines have been in the billions of euros. Not only is price fixing suspected, but there are also concerns that the scrap market has been divided to reduce competition, a clear violation of regulations. The EU is also looking into possible antitrust violations in the rechargeable battery sector, and US officials are thought to be involved in a similar investigation. Meanwhile, Recylex said that it has been visited by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition concerning the lead batteries and other lead scrap purchase sector. The company added that “the fact that the European Commission carries out such inspections does not prejudge the outcome of the pending investigation. The Recylex group is fully cooperating.” Johnson Controls confirmed the European Commission visited its Hannover, Germany, facility to “gather information.” The compay also said it is fully cooperating with the investigation.

• [Editor:editor]