April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., the world’s biggest computer-chip maker, faces a European Union fine and a ban on rebates on sales to computer makers, according to two people who have seen a draft decision in an eight-year-old antitrust case.

The 500-page draft was circulated to 27 national competition authorities over the past few weeks in preparation for a ruling in the case, two people with direct knowledge of the document said. The people asked for anonymity because the document isn’t public.

Intel has been entangled in a dispute with EU antitrust regulators since 2001, following a complaint by rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The Brussels-based European Commission accused Intel last July of giving computer sellers “substantial rebates” not to sell machines using AMD chips.

A final ruling may come in the next few weeks, the people said. The commission, the EU’s antitrust authority, allows national competition officials to review decisions before a final ruling is made.

“That’s speculative and we decline to comment,” said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Santa Clara, California-based Intel.

Jonathan Todd, a commission spokesman, said “we have an ongoing antitrust investigation” and declined to comment further.

Fine Amount

EU antitrust officials will disclose the amount of the fine at a meeting with national regulators to discuss the draft decision. The fine must then be approved by the full commission.

The ruling may increase pressure on Intel as computer sales decline amid the economic downturn. Intel has kept its market share at about 80 percent by granting rebates that are conditional on computer makers buying all or the vast majority of their chips from the company, the commission has charged.

Intel rose 36 cents or 2.4 percent, to $15.36 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 p.m. New York time.

Intel said on April 14 that first-quarter profit fell 55 percent to $647 million, or 11 cents a share, from a year earlier, because of slowing computer demand. The company signaled that sales won’t recover in the current period.

Intel sought to halt the EU investigation last year by filing a lawsuit at the European Court of First Instance. The court ruled earlier this year that the commission hadn’t violated Intel’s rights during the probe.

In 2007, the EU accused Intel of giving rebates and making below-cost sales to manufacturers, including Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., to coax them not to use AMD’s chips, according to the Court of First Instance ruling.

In a similar case, Intel was fined about $25 million in 2008 by South Korea’s antitrust regulator for allegedly offering discounts to prevent customers from buying AMD products. Intel is also under investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for alleged unfair business practices.

AMD has a related civil lawsuit pending against Intel in federal court in Delaware.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Newman in Brussels at Mnewman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 21, 2009 16:33 EDT