Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Competition — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — Action to be taken within a reasonable time — Infringement of principle — Consequences — (Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1); Council Regulation No 17)

2. Competition — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — Respect for the principle of presumption of innocence — Scope

3. Competition — Administrative procedure — Access to the file — Purpose — Observance of the rights of the defence — Infringement — Consequences — (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 19(1); Commission Regulation No 99/63, Arts 3 and 7 to 9)

4. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Notification — Effects — Scope — Contracts with identical terms to that properly notified — Reinforcement or extension of restrictions or introduction of new restrictions — Fresh formal notification required — (Council Regulation No 17)

5. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Adverse effect on competition — Selective distribution system — Clauses prohibiting passive sales by authorised distributors — Unlawful — (Art. 81(1) EC)

6. Competition — Community rules — Application by the Commission — Not influenced by the application of similar national rules by a national authority — (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC)

7. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Adverse effect on competition — Criteria for assessment — Anti-competitive object — Sufficient to establish the existence thereof — (Art. 81(1) EC)

8. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Selective distribution system — Limitation of price competition — Extent — (Art. 81(1) EC)

9. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Prohibition — Exemption — Conditions — Burden of proof — Cumulative nature of the exemption conditions — (Art. 81(3) EC)

10. Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Prohibited — Block exemption — Regulation No 123/85 — Regulation No 1475/95 — Scope — Construction site machinery — Excluded — (Commission Regulations Nos 123/85, Art. 1, and 1475/95, Art. 1)

11. Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Criteria — Gravity of the infringements — Judicial review — (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2))

12. Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Commission ' s discretion — Comparisons of facts of different cases — Indicative — Comparisons in terms of turnover — Amount of fines imposed on different undertakings corresponding to different percentages of their respective turnovers — Breach of the principle of equal treatment — None — (Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2))

Summary

1. The need to act within a reasonable time in conducting administrative proceedings relating to competition policy is a general principle of Community law whose observance is ensured by the Community judicature, and which is incorporated, as an element of the right to good administration, in Article 41(1) of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union proclaimed in Nice on 7 December 2000.

However, infringement of the principle that the Commission must act within a reasonable time, if established, justifies the annulment of a decision taken following administrative proceedings in competition matters only in so far as it also constitutes an infringement of the rights of defence of the undertakings concerned. Where it has not been established that the undue delay has adversely affected the ability of the undertakings concerned to defend themselves effectively, failure to comply with the principle that the Commission must act within a reasonable time cannot affect the validity of the administrative procedure.

see paras 36, 40

2. The principle of the presumption of innocence is part of the Community legal order and applies to the procedures relating to infringements of the competition rules applicable to undertakings that may result in the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments.

The mere fact that the Commission adopted two successive statements of objections cannot suffice to establish that that principle of presumption of innocence was breached. Moreover, a general presumption of the guilt of the undertaking concerned can be attributed to the Commission only if the findings of fact it made in the decision were not supported by the evidence it furnished.

see paras 50, 53

3. Access to the file is one of the procedural guarantees intended to safeguard the rights of the defence. Infringement of the right of access to the Commission ' s file during the procedure prior to adoption of a decision can, in principle, cause the decision to be annulled if the rights of defence of the undertaking concerned have been infringed. In such a case, the infringement committed is not remedied by the mere fact that access was made possible during the court proceedings relating to an action in which annulment of the contested decision is sought. Where access has been granted at that stage, the undertaking concerned does not have to show that, if it had had access to the non-disclosed documents, the Commission decision would have been different in content, but only that it would have been able to use those documents for its defence.

see para. 64

4. The objects of notification are achieved solely by notification of contracts in identical terms concluded by one and the same undertaking. The use of form A/B is mandatory and is an essential prior condition for the validity of the notification, and a fresh notification must be made in the event of any reinforcement or extension of the restrictions and, a fortiori , any introduction of new restrictions. It is only in the specific case of renewal of a request for exemption that a mere request for renewal with amendments is sufficient.

see para. 79

5. A restriction imposed under a system of distribution agreements on passive sales by authorised distributors, prohibiting or deterring them from selling not only to unauthorised distributors, but also to authorised distributors out-of- territory or to end-users has as its object and effect the limiting and sharing of markets, and is prohibited by Article 81(1)(b) and (c) EC.

see para. 85

6. Any similarity there may be between the legislation of a Member State in the field of competition and the rules laid down in Articles 81 EC and 82 EC certainly cannot serve to restrict the Commission ' s freedom of action in applying those articles nor to compel it to adopt the same assessment as the authorities responsible for implementing the national legislation.

see para. 93

7. The fact that a clause in an agreement between undertakings, the object of which is to restrict competition, has not been implemented by the contracting parties is not sufficient to remove it from the ambit of the prohibition laid down in Article 81(1) EC.

see para. 103

8. Limitation in price competition is inherent in a selective distribution system. Dealers cannot lawfully have undertakings with regard to prices imposed on them, but, so long as there is no concerted practice for the application of guide prices, the communication of such prices is not restrictive of competition, and nor is an adequate profit margin for dealers. On the other hand, an increase in the rigidity of the price structure liable to impede effective competition on prices must be condemned.

see para. 131

9. In the case of an application for exemption under Article 81(3) EC, it is incumbent on the applicant undertaking to submit all the evidence necessary to substantiate the economic justification for an exemption and to prove that it satisfies each of the four conditions laid down in that article, which are cumulative. Similarly, it is for that undertaking to show that the restrictions of competition meet the objectives referred to by Article 81(3) EC and that those objectives could not be attained without the introduction of those restrictions.

see para. 162

10. Regulation No 123/85 on the application of Article [81](3) of the Treaty to certain categories of motor vehicle distribution and servicing agreements, according to the wording of its Article 1, concerns: " certain motor vehicles intended for use on public roads and having three or more road wheels" ; Regulation No 1475/95, which replaces Regulation No 123/85 stipulates additionally that such vehicles must be new. Regulations on block exemption must be interpreted narrowly. It is clear that construction site machinery is intended for earthmoving and construction and that, although it may be used on public roads, it is not intended for such use within the meaning of the exemption regulation in question. Such products are therefore not covered by that regulation which cannot be applied by analogy to categories of vehicles other than those to which it relates.

see para. 164

11. The amount of a fine imposed for an infringement of the competition rules must be fixed at a level which takes account of the circumstances and the gravity of the infringement and the latter is to be appraised by taking into account in particular the nature of the restrictions on competition. Although the choice of the amount of the fine is an instrument of the Commission ' s competition policy aimed at directing the conduct of undertakings towards compliance with the competition rules, it is nevertheless for the Court to verify whether the amount of the fine imposed is in proportion to the duration and gravity of the infringement. The Court must, in particular, weigh the seriousness of the infringement against the circumstances invoked by the applicant.

see para. 179

12. Observance of the principle of equal treatment, which prevents comparable situations from being treated differently and different situations from being treated in the same way, unless such difference in treatment is objectively justified, is incumbent on the Commission when it imposes a fine on an undertaking for infringement of the competition rules, as it is on any institution in carrying out all its activities.

Regardless of the comparisons the Commission found useful in setting the amount of the fine imposed on an undertaking, such matters can only give an indication, since the facts of the cases, such as markets, products, the undertakings and periods concerned, are not the same. As regards the comparisons in terms of turnover, Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 fixes a ceiling for the amount of fines, but does not entail that the Commission is bound, when assessing fines in accordance with the gravity and duration of the infringement in question, to calculate the fines on the basis of the turnover of the undertakings concerned.

The Commission assesses the gravity of infringements by reference to numerous factors, which are not based on a binding or exhaustive list of the criteria which must be applied. Its practice in previous decisions does not itself serve as a legal framework for the fines imposed in competition matters, since that framework is defined solely in Regulation No 17. The Commission is not, moreover, bound to apply a precise mathematical formula, either for the total amount of the fine or where it is broken down into different elements.

Thus the fact that the fines imposed on Volkswagen, Opel and JCB Service amount to different percentages of their respective turnovers is not evidence of discriminatory treatment.

see paras 187-189