In a ruling that could have implications across the European Union, the European Court of First Instance said on Thursday that the British-Dutch food group Unilever was restricting competition in the fiercely contested market for ice cream bars in Ireland.
Unilever appealed to the court in 1998, when the European Commission outlawed the company's policy of providing freezers to retailers on condition that they not be used to stock rival ice cream.
Small retailers in Ireland who did not have space for two freezer cabinets were stocking their Mars ice creams in the Unilever freezers, a practice Unilever wanted to stop.
By throwing out Unilever's appeal, the court backed the commission's ruling that the exclusivity clauses amounted to an abuse of Unilever's dominant position in the Irish ice cream bar market.
''Taking into account the specific conditions of the market, the popularity of HB ice creams, HB's strength in the market and the specific features of the products, the effect of the agreements as a whole is to restrict competition in the market,'' the court said in a statement.
''HB has abused its dominant position in the market,'' the court concluded.
Bookmarks