The European Union's executive announced today that it had launched an investigation into a suspected cartel in the electronics industry, with Siemens and ABB both confirming that they had been raided, dpa reported. "The European Commission can confirm that on 20 January 2010 Commission officials carried out targeted inspections at the premises of producers of Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS)," the Brussels-based body said in a statement. "The commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," the statement said. The commission did not name the companies involved, nor say whether they were the only ones involved in the probe. However, both Siemens and ABB confirmed that they had been investigated. FACTS are used in power transmission networks to increase the load that the systems can carry. The commission drafts EU laws and makes sure that member states and companies obey them. If it finds companies guilty of illegal or anti-competitive behaviour, it can fine them up to 10 per cent of their total global turnover. The statement stressed that "the fact that the European Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour." The record EU cartel fine to date was a bill of 1.3 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars) levied on car-glass manufacturers Asahi, Pilkington, Saint-Gobain and Soliver in November 2008.
