A number of recent judgments suggest that European courts are getting tougher with the Commission on parental liability.

In Elf Aquitaine SA v Commission (Case C-521/09 P), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on 29 September that Elf Aquitaine was not jointly and severally liable as a parent company for the involvement of its wholly owned subsidiary Arkema in the cartel for monochloroaecetic acid. The judgment overturned a Commission decision on procedural grounds. Taken with a number of recent judgments, this suggests that European courts are getting tougher on the Commission and that it will have to work harder in the future to justify a parent company’s rebuttal of the presumption of parental liability. It therefore seems more feasible for a parent company that presents good evidence to be able to get itself off the hook.