Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Competition ° Division of powers between the Commission and the authorities of the Member States ° Right of national authorities to take action against cartels prohibited by Community law ° Limits ° Powers of the Commission to take action concerning situations already examined by the national authorities

(EEC Treaty, Art. 85(1))

2. Competition ° Fines ° Amount ° Community penalties and penalties imposed by the authorities of a Member State for infringement of domestic competition law ° Imposition of both ° Permissible ° Commission' s obligation to take account of a national penalty imposed in respect of the same conduct

(Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15)

3. Competition ° Agreements, decisions and concerted practices ° Agreements between undertakings ° Participation allegedly under pressure ° Not a factor such as to justify failure by an undertaking to notify the competent authorities

(EEC Treaty, Art. 85(1); Council Regulation No 17, Art. 3)

4. Competition ° Agreements, decisions and concerted practices ° Agreements between undertakings ° Proof of the existence of an agreement ° Evidence put forward by the Commission ° Counter-arguments advanced by the undertaking concerned ° Verification a matter for the Community judicature

(EEC Treaty, Art. 85(1))

5. Acts of the institutions ° Statement of reasons ° Obligation ° Scope ° Decision applying the competition rules

(EEC Treaty, Art. 190)

6. Competition ° Community rules ° Application by the Commission ° Not influenced by the application of similar national rules by a national authority

Summary

1. One and the same agreement may, in principle, be the subject of parallel proceedings, one set before the Community authorities under Article 85(1) of the Treaty and the other before the national authorities under domestic law. But while the national competition authorities may thus take action regarding situations liable to be the subject of a Commission decision, that parallel application of the national system can be allowed only in so far as it does not prejudice the uniform application throughout the common market of the Community rules on cartels and of the full effect of the measures adopted in implementation of those rules.

It follows that the Commission retains its powers to examine, under Community competition law, facts which have already been examined by the national authorities.

2. Although the possibility of concurrent sanctions resulting from two parallel procedures pursuing different ends is acceptable as a result of the special system of sharing jurisdiction between the Community and the Member States with regard to cartels, by virtue of a general requirement of natural justice the Commission must, in determining the amount of the fine under Article 15 of Regulation No 17, take account of penalties which have already been borne by the same undertaking for the same action, where they have been imposed for infringements of the cartel law of a Member State and, consequently, have been committed on Community territory.

3. An undertaking which participates in an agreement, decision or concerted practice within the meaning of Article 85(1) of the Treaty cannot rely on the fact that it did so under pressure from the other participants. It could have complained to the competent authorities about the pressure brought to bear on it and lodged a complaint with the Commission under Article 3 of Regulation No 17 rather than participating in such activities.

4. Where the Commission refers, as evidence of an undertaking' s participation in a cartel prohibited by Article 85(1) of the Treaty, to circumstances described as being indicative of the existence of such a cartel and the undertaking concerned seeks to justify those circumstances by claiming that they form part of the implementation of a patent licence agreement not claimed by the Commission to be unlawful, the Court must verify whether the matters raised by the Commission can be accounted for by anything other than the existence of a cartel, in particular the existence of the licence agreement referred to.

5. Although under Article 190 of the Treaty the Commission is obliged to state the reasons on which its decisions are based, mentioning the factual and legal elements which provide the legal basis for the measure and the considerations which have led it to adopt its decision, it is not required in the case of a decision applying the competition rules to discuss all the issues of fact and law raised by every party during the administrative procedure.

6. No similarities which may exist between the legislation of a Member State in the field of competition and the rules laid down in Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty can in any circumstances serve to restrict the Commission' s freedom of action in applying Articles 85 and 86 so as to compel it to adopt the same assessment as the authorities responsible for implementing the national legislation.