Brussels, June 18, 2012 — E.U. regulators will decide soon whether to accept concessions offered by Germany’s Siemens and France’s Areva to end an investigation into their former nuclear power joint venture. Areva and Siemens declined to comment.
If the regulator agrees to accept the concessions, it would then drop the investigation without a fine for Siemens or Areva.
Companies can be fined up to 10 percent of their turnover for breaching E.U. antitrust rules.
The regulator investigation centers on a non-compete clause signed by the companies as part of joint venture Areva NP, which still applied after Siemens quit the venture in 2009.
In March, Siemens and Areva offered to limit the non-compete obligation to all Areva NP core products and services for three years after Siemens left the venture. They also proposed to drop the clause for non-core products and services.
