(14) Where Member States require contribution from the sector in order to finance universal service obligations and to the administrative costs of the national regulatory authorities, the criteria and procedures for apportioning contributions should be proportionate and non-discriminatory with regard to European electronic communications providers, so as not to hinder cross-border market entry, in particular of new entrants and smaller operators; individual undertakings’ contributions should therefore take into account the contributor’s market share in terms of turnover realised in the relevant Member State and should be subject to the ...[+++]application of a de minimis threshold.

That share and the criteria on which it is based (such as turnover, market share or role in the cartel) must be decided by the court according to national law.

The determination of that share as the relative responsibility of a given infringer, and the relevant criteria such as turnover, market share, or role in the cartel, is a matter for the applicable national law, while respecting the principles of effectiveness and equivalence.

The cartel consisted mainly of competitors exchanging commercially important and confidential market and company information, limiting and controlling production, allocating market shares and customers and fixing and monitoring prices.

The cartel, which lasted from 31 January 1994 until 31 December 2000, consisted mainly of competitors exchanging commercially important and confidential market and company information, limiting and controlling production, allocating market shares and customers and fixing and monitoring prices.

The European Commission has imposed fines totalling 60 million ECU on twenty three major petrochimical producers which took part in two European-wide price fixing and market sharing cartels, one in LdPE (low Density Polyethylene) and the other in PVC.