The European Commission said it launched raids on unnamed companies producing high-voltage undersea cables, fearing that they are illegally fixing prices. Investigators raided the premises of a number of cable- makers between January 28 and 30 because it “has reason to believe that the companies may have violated (EU) rules on restrictive business practices ... which prohibit practices such as price fixing,” said the Commission, which is charged with overseeing the EU’s strict laws on fair business.

Since 2003, it has broken up 39 cartels covering products ranging from beer and bananas to steel beams and car glass, imposing fines of close on eight billion Euro on the companies involved. Sub-sea power cables are a particularly sensitive topic in the EU at the moment, as the commission at the end of January proposed spending close on five billion Euro on energy links between EU states, with sub-sea cable projects among the proposed beneficiaries.