BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission said it had fined Dutch brewer Heineken and Scottish and Newcastle's Kronenbourg 2.5 million euros (3.08 million dollars) for agreeing to fix supply in France.
The commission said the companies had been engaged in an "acquisition war" for wholesalers in the hotel, restaurant and cafe sector. This pushed up the prices paid by these wholesalers.
In 1996, the companies agreed to an "armistice" agreement. They agreed to refrain from acquiring wholesalers which were not on an agreed list and to regulating the volume of beer and number of brands supplied to the market.
A spokesman for the EU competition regulator, Tilman Lueder, said the agreement was "wider" than previous cases in the sector, because the parties had decided to divide up the acquisition of wholesalers.
The commission noted that the companies had not actually put their agreement into place and that this had been taken into account in the setting of the fine, it said.
Lueder said: "The fine is not particularly high because armistice was never implemented. It was just an agreement. Thankfully it was never implemented."
Kronenbourg, which at the time was owned by French food group Danone, was fined 1.5 million euros and Heineken was fined one million euros.
In reaction to the decision, Heineken said in a statement: "Heineken emphasizes that the amount of the fine imposed confirms that the alleged infringement was of an incidental nature and that the discussions between Heineken and Kronenbourg have not led to any implemented agreement."
It also said it would study the decision in detail before making a decision about appealing.