On March 29, the European Court of Justice, the highest court of the European Union, said that it upheld the EU Commission's decisions fining ArcelorMittal Luxembourg €10 million and ThyssenKrupp Nirosta €3.17 million for anticompetitive conduct in the early 1990s.
In 1994 the EU Commission imposed fines on the companies that had participated in a cartel in the steel beams market, including ArcelorMittal Luxembourg (formerly ARBED). The EU Commission, by a decision adopted in 1998, imposed a penalty on ThyssenKrupp Nirosta (formerly ThyssenKrupp Stainless) for participating in a cartel in the stainless steel flat products sector (alloy surcharge).
During the case, the steel companies had argued that the rules laid down in the now-defunct European Coal and Steel Community Treaty are not applicable anymore. However, the European Court of Justice decided that the rules still apply.