EU: Luxury watch competition probe nixed

The European Commission has reportedly decided to end its investigation into the luxury watch industry after three years.

Reports say the Commission announced Tuesday that there was only a limited chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing following allegations that some watch manufacturers had refused to supply spare parts to independent repair companies. The investigation first began after the EU’s second-highest court said the Commission falsely denied requests to investigate the industry.

The Commission first received a complaint by luxury watch group CEAHR, with watch repair members in nine EU nations. The group claimed that watch makers were unfairly denying supply spare parts to repairers and harming the ability for independent repairers to compete.

In a statement, the Commission said that “there is limited likelihood of finding such an infringement in the present case” and has therefore decided to close the probe.

Full content: Reuters

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