NMa turns down objection filed by Dutch media company Wegener, upholds fines

The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has ruled that it will uphold the fines of more than EUR 20 million imposed on Dutch media company Wegener and on five individuals. The NMa has turned down the objections raised by Wegener and the fined individuals. Henk Don, member of the Board of the NMa, reacts: ‘This means that Wegener must pay the fine, and comply with the commitment it had made to the NMa, which guarantees the independence of regional newspapers PZC and BN/De Stem in the southwest of the Netherlands, or face penalty payments.’

Unlike the Advisory Committee on Administrative Appeals (BAC), which is an advisory body consisting of independent members, the NMa is of the opinion that the aforementioned commitment is clear: Wegener has always known what was expected from them. That is why the NMa argues there can be no mistake about the requirement to guarantee PZC and BN/De Stem’s independence in the southwestern region of the Netherlands. It was thus not allowed to merge the regional editorial boards of these competing newspapers, nor to pursue a joint commercial strategy. The NMa therefore sees no reason to reduce the fines.




Objections against this ruling can be filed with the District Court of Rotterdam, and, if needed, appeals can be filed with the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal.




Background information


After the acquisition of VNU Dagbladen in 2000, Wegener, which already owned regional newspaper Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant (PZC), became owner of BN/De Stem as well. The activities of PZC and BN/De Stem have an overlap in the region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in the southwestern part of the Netherlands, where PZC publishes its ‘Zeeuws-Vlaanderen’ edition and BN/De Stem its ‘Zeeland’ edition. The acquisition resulted in a dominant position in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen as both of these papers no longer had to compete with each other. Such a situation could have adverse effects on readers, such as price increases and reader selection reductions of both papers. The instruction that the NMa had attached to the acquisition, and which officially is still in effect, offsets these negative effects.




A request filed by Wegener earlier this year was turned down by the NMa in July. It sought to remove the aforementioned commitment. Wegener failed to convince the NMa that market conditions in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen have changed so much that the commitments would no longer be necessary. If Wegener fails to comply with the commitment, it will owe a penalty payment of EUR 1 million as of October 14, 2011, up to a maximum amount of EUR 20 million.