E.ON SE

In 2009, the European Commission found that E.ON, E.ON Ruhrgas and Gaz de France had infringed EU competition law through a market-sharing arrangement concerning natural gas transported through the jointly operated MEGAL pipeline. For E.ON itself, the Commission identified the infringement period as 31 January 2003 to 30 September 2005. The arrangement restricted the parties from competing in each other's traditional German and French gas markets. The Commission originally imposed a €553 million fine on E.ON and E.ON Ruhrgas jointly and severally. In June 2012, the EU General Court confirmed the core market-sharing infringement but found errors concerning its duration and reduced the fine to €320 million. Sources: EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=oj%3AJOC_2009_248_R Court of Justice of the European Union https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2012-06/cp120093en.pdf

In January 2008, the European Commission fined E.ON Energie AG €38 million after finding that a seal placed on a room during an antitrust inspection had been broken. The Commission had sealed the room overnight to protect documents gathered during an unannounced inspection into suspected anticompetitive practices in German energy markets. When investigators returned the next morning, the seal showed evidence that it had been broken. E.ON challenged the penalty, but in November 2012 the EU Court of Justice confirmed the €38 million fine. Source: Court of Justice of the European Union https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2012-11/cp120148en.pdf