By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – EU enforcement officers are planning a series if raids against companies suspected illegally price-fixing. The EU’s Anti-trust Chief warned Friday that they were planning to do so, while also warning about the threat of competition in labor markets from “no-poach” deals.

The European Commission raided Europe’s top pulp producers Stora Enso, UPM and Metsa Board’s Metsa Fibre last week. It was their first raid in nearly two years since the COVID-19 pandemic had stopped such actions.

Margrethe Vestager from the EU Competition Commission stated that any company suspected of participating in another cartel should be seen by officials soon.

“And that’s just the start of a series of raids that we’re planning for the months to come – you’ll understand if I don’t say exactly when or where they’re going to happen,” she told a conference organised by the Italian anti-trust authority in Rome.

Fines up to 10% could be imposed on companies found guilty for participating in cartels. Companies found guilty of participating in cartels can be subject to sanctions, while whistleblowers may get exemptions from punishment and severe reductions in penalties for providing crucial information.

According to her, regulators might sweeten these so-called leniency agreements with companies because of the rise in customer private damage claims. This could discourage customers from sharing their key data with enforcers.

Vestager also attacked “no-poach” agreements between companies. She claimed that it could result in a cartel and that Vestager might be contemplating legal action.

She said that individuals are directly affected “when businesses conspire to fix their wages or use so-called “no-poach” agreements to infringe wages, preventing talent from going where the economy is most efficient”.

In recent years, there has been criticism of non-compete and no-poach agreements. These agreements are agreements between companies that agree to not hire workers from each other.