Admin l Tuesday, March 14, 2023
BERLIN – Germany’s Federal Competition Authority has acted to ensure fairer competition in the tank maintenance market.
The authority has enforced rules within the framework of an abuse procedure to compel Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH to supply fault diagnosis software it developed for the GTK Boxer armoured vehicle to FFG Flensburg Fahrzeugbau GmbH.
The authority’s president, Andreas Mundt, stressed that the move was necessary to ensure Germany’s armed forces got a good deal.
“For the Bundeswehr as a customer it is very important to have as much choice as possible in the maintenance of its vehicles,” he said.
The authority found that Rheinmetall had initially refused to submit a binding offer for the supply of the DAS test system to its competitor in the maintenance business in return for an appropriate fee.
In a preliminary statement, the authority saw this as “abusive behaviour without objective justification” and took action. “In response to our proceedings, Rheinmetall has contractually assured the supply of the required FFG Flensburg test system and has already implemented it,” Mundt said.
In principle, companies are free to decide who they supply and at what price. However, if a company is dominant in the market, it is subject to stricter behavioural control by the competition authority in order to prevent abuse of its market position.
According to an initial assessment by the authority, Rheinmetall is dominant on the national market for special tools needed for the maintenance and repair of GTK Boxers. Competitors in the maintenance business are dependent on Rheinmetall’s maintenance software.
After the agreement between Rheinmetall and FFG Flensburg, the competition authority has now discontinued the abuse proceedings, Mundt said. However, the authority will continue to closely monitor the market for the repair of armoured vehicles.
