Europe's highest court said it stood by an earlier ruling that the EC was wrong to fine two of the world's largest soda ash manufacturers. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) rejected an appeal by the Commission against a 1995 ruling from a lower court annulling fines against Belgium's Solvay SA and Britain's ICI for alleged infringements of EU competition policy. In 1990, the Commission, the EU's anti-trust watchdog, imposed fines of Euros 30m against Solvay, the world's largest producer of synthetic soda ash, and Euros 17m against ICI, Europe's second largest producer. The European Court of First Instance, the EU's lower court, annulled the penalties in 1995 on procedural grounds. In a subsequent ruling, the ECJ dismissed the Commission's appeal against the 1995 decision and ordered it to pay the costs of the case. (whole item)
