The Competition Appeals Board annuls the Competition Authority's decision concerning the alleged abuse of a dominant position by Vélar og verkfæri ehf.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has, in a new ruling Today, the decision of the Competition Authority was overturned. No. 14/2009, where Vélar og verkfæri ehf. was fined 15 million krónur for abusing its dominant market position in the sale of material for the production of master key systems. The Competition Authority considered that the company had prevented service providers for master key systems from importing and selling such systems from manufacturers other than ASSA in Sweden. The infringement was considered serious as it had an impact on the sale of ready-made master key systems directly to consumers.

The Appeal Board bases its annulment of the decision on the uncertainty as to how the Competition Authority's definition of the relevant market in the case should be interpreted. It considers that it is not in a position to rule definitively on how the decision should be interpreted in this respect, but states that the ruling does not take a position on the substantive issues of the case. That will be done if the case comes before the Committee again.

This ruling follows judgement Supreme Court, 1 December 2011. In that judgment, the Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling of the appeals board in the case, as the board's decision to change the Competition Authority's definition of the relevant market had not been sufficiently justified and the investigation was insufficient. The judgment states that the Competition Authority had defined the market in question in a well-reasoned analysis, comparing the various types of access systems on the market in terms of price and characteristics, and examining whether there was substitutability between these types of goods and services. However, the Appeal Board neither fulfilled its duty when handling the appellant's case to conduct a sufficient investigation within the meaning of administrative law, nor did it justify its decision in the required manner.

The Competition Authority is now considering whether there are grounds to reopen the case or refer it to the courts.