The European Commission conducted raids at a company in the chocolate industry, suspected of anti-competitive practices.

The European Commission has conducted searches at the premises of a company in the chocolate products industry, suspected of violating the European Union's antitrust legislation, which prohibits cartels and anti-competitive practices. The European competition authority announced on Monday that the inspections took place at the company's facilities in two member states of the European Union, but did not disclose the name of the targeted company or the countries where the searches were conducted. The Commission uses such unannounced inspections when there are serious suspicions regarding agreements between companies for price fixing, market sharing, or other practices that restrict competition. The European executive emphasized that these inspections do not imply the company's guilt and do not indicate the final outcome of the investigation. In the event that violations of antitrust rules are confirmed, companies can be fined up to 10% of their annual global turnover.