The United Nations (UN) intergovernmental group of experts on competition law and policy is considering a proposal that anti-competitive fines, applicable in industrialised countries, should be paid into developing countries' coffers.
This is after a representative of the Czech Republic made the suggestion at the UN conference on trade and development, in Switzerland.
Martin Pecina, chairman of the Czech office for the protection of competition, said instead of paying a fine that could damage a company's reputation, it could be "very attractive" for competition offenders to invest similar amounts in projects in developing countries.
He said companies would not only "atone" for their actions by helping the poor, but would also contribute to an "international trust for establishing and supporting competition-protection systems in developing countries".
The UN's expert group is now considering whether such a system would also allow the relevant companies to offset the amounts paid out against their Millennium Development Goals-based overseas development assistance commitments.
Microsoft impact
Earlier this year, the European Commission (EC) fined the Otis, KONE, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp groups 992 million euro "for operating cartels for the installation and maintenance of lifts and escalators in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands".
One high-profile anti-competition case that could potentially be influenced by a decision to implement the Czech proposal is the ongoing issue of Microsoft in Europe.
The EU Court of First Instance ruled in 2004 that Microsoft should pay a record 497 million euro ($613 million) fine for anti-competitive behaviour. The software giant was also ordered to sell a copy of its Windows product without the media player and to share software information with rivals in order for them to work smoothly with the Microsoft desktop operating system. Microsoft's appeal against this ruling is to be decided on 17 September.
Subsequent to the 2004 ruling, the EU regulators fined Microsoft an additional 280.5 million euros ($357 million) for not supplying all the required software information, as stipulated. Microsoft intends to appeal this decision.
Should Microsoft fail in all its appeal bids, the fines imposed on the corporation will at this stage, as per EU regulations, go into the EU central budget.
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