EU regulators charge 5 lead recyclers for taking part in cartel

(Adds details of charges, potential fines)

BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators charged five companies on Wednesday for taking part in a car battery recycling cartel in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands from 2009 to 2012.

The European Commission, which governs competition issues, said it had concerns that the recycling companies participated in a cartel aimed at fixing the purchase price for scrap lead-acid batteries, from which lead is extracted.

The Commission did not name the five companies it had charged.

Four of Europe's top lead recyclers, Ecobat, JCI , Recylex and Campine (Brussels: CAMB.BR - news) were investigated by the Commission, sources told Reuters after dawn raids by the EU competition authority in 2012.

"The (European) Commission alleges in its statement of objections that these companies agreed or coordinated their behaviour only in order to maintain higher profit margins," the EU executive said in a statement.

"As a result, they may have lowered the prices paid to scrap dealers, many of which are small and medium-sized companies," it said, without naming the cartel members.

The Commission has now informed the five parties of the charges against them. The companies can reply in writing or request an oral hearing.

If the Commission subsequently concludes there is sufficient evidence of a cartel it can impose a fine of up to 10 percent of a company's annual worldwide turnover. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Julia Fioretti)