Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2009:211
Date: 2009-06-19
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices;Concentrations between undertakings;Dominant position
Concepts: General
Procedure: Action for annulment - decision unnecessary
Origin: Germany

Notice for the OJ Action brought on 30 July 2003 by Socratec ( Satellite Navigation Consulting, Research & Technology-GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-269/03) (Language of the case: German) An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 30 July 2003 by Socratec ( Satellite Navigation Consulting, Research & Technology-GmbH, Regensburg (Germany), represented by M. Adolf and M. Lüken, lawyers. The applicant claims that the Court should: (annul the Commission's Decision of 30 April 2003 (Case COMP/M.2903); (in the alternative, annul the Commission's Decision of 30 April 2003 (Case COMP/M.2903) in so far as the decision allows the participating undertakings DaimlerChrysler Services AG, Deutsche Telekom AG and Cofiroute SA to provide telematic services by means of the toll system commissioned by the Federal Republic of Germany; (in the further alternative, order the Commission to require DaimlerChrysler Services AG, Deutsche Telekom AG and Cofiroute SA to postpone completion of the notified joint venture Toll Collect GmbH until the conditions in Article 2 of the Commission's Decision COMP/M.2903 have been met; (order the Commission to pay the applicant's costs. Pleas and main arguments The applicant is a German undertaking which is active, in particular, in the area of telematic services for commercial vehicles. It is challenging the Commission's decision of 30 April 2003, by which the Commission found the acquisition of joint control over the newly formed joint venture, Toll Collect GmbH, by DaimlerChrysler AG, Deutsche Telekom AG and Compagnie Financière et Industrielle des Autoroutes SA (Cofiroute) compatible with the common market and with the EEA Agreement. The applicant submits that the Commission approved the notified concentration following, above all, its acceptance of the commitments proposed by DaimlerChrysler Services AG and Deutsche Telekom AG and that in doing so it wrongly assessed the effects of the concentration on the market for telematic services even in the light of the commitments. Furthermore, the Commission wrongly accepted that the commitments were adequate to solve and wholly eliminate the competition problem. The applicant also submits that the Commission's definition of the relevant geographic market was wrong and that its definition of the relevant product market was incomplete. Finally, the applicant claims that the Commission infringed its rights of defence so far as the proposed commitments are concerned. ____________