The European Commission confirmed that it had conducted unannounced inspections on 16 May 2017 in undertakings operating in ethylene purchasing market in several EU member states. Ethylene is an input used to produce various chemical and plastic products. The inspections were conducted as the European Commission had concerns that such undertakings might have infringed Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. The officials of the European Commission were accompanied by personnel of the relevant national competition authorities. The press release dated 26 July 2017 about the inspections is available via http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-17-2171_en.htm