The rebates, which consist in granting a lump sum discount to the ...

weakening and eliminating competitors, by way of acquisition or otherwise, especiallythose competitors that were deemed to have the potential to become more seriouschallengers.To achieve this objective Tomra employed various anti-competitive practices, including exclusivityand preferred supplier agreements, as well as agreements containing individualized quantitycommitments or individualised retroactive rebate schemes. The latter types of agreements orconditions usually relate to quantities representing the entire requirements of the customer or a largeproportion thereof within a given reference period. They are often referred to as ‘high-volume blockorders’.Tomra's policy of blocking market access for competitors was pursued in particular by:concluding exclusivity agreements with a number of its customers for the supply of RVMsolutions in five EEA countries (Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden)in the period of 1998-2002,concluding agreements with its customers in the period of 1998-2002 imposing upon theman individualized quantity target, that corresponded to the customer's total or almost totaldemand for RVM solutions in a specific period of time. The customers were granteddiscounts subject to their commitment to purchase the agreed target quantity,concluding agreements with the retail companies in the period of 1998-2002 in five EEAcountries establishing individualised retroactive rebate schemes, thresholds of whichcorresponded to customers' total or almost total demand.According to the Commission decision discounts granted for individualized quantities thatcorrespondto the entire or almost entire demand, have the same effect as explicit exclusivityclauses, that is to say, they induce the customer to purchase all or almost all its requirements from adominant supplier. The same applies to fidelity (loyalty) rebates, that is to say, rebates that areconditional on customers purchasing all or most of their requirements from a dominant supplier. Itis not decisive for the exclusionary character of agreements or conditions whether the purchasevolume commitment is expressed in absolute terms or with reference to a certain percentagethereof. In the Tomra's agreements the stipulated quantity targets constituted individualizedcommitments that were different for each customer regardless of its size and purchase volume.Furthermore, they corresponded either to the customer's entire requirements or to a large proportionof them, or even exceeded them. Tomra had the necessary market knowledge for a realistic estimateof each individual customer's approximate demand.11