A German member of the EU Parliament (MEP) has called on the EC to investigate claims of price fixing by container glass manfacturers. In a statement issued 24/04/08, Werner Langen said that the EU wine & spirit industry was suffering because glass container prices had risen by 30% in the last year. "Since the EU market for glass bottles is dominated by three main producers, we suspect illegal price fixing is behind the exorbitant price rises", Mr. Langen said. O-I, Saint Gobain & Ardagh Glass are the three main EU container glass makers, but were unavailable for comment. The EU container glass federation, meanwhile, said it had no knowledge of Mr. Langen's complaint. Mr. Langen said he had asked the EC whether it could confirm the increase in glass prices & if so, how it planned to respond to the official complaint from EU wine & spirit producers.
