General term for the total or partial reduction of fines applied to firms that cooperate with antitrust authorities in cartel investigations.
The current leniency programme of the Commission is the 2006 notice on immunity from fines and reduction of fines in cartel cases, which replaces the 2002 and 1996 notices.
Source: Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy, Antitrust and control of concentrations, European Commission, 2002