Keywords

Subject of the case

Operative part



Keywords

Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Requirement of a necessary link between the information requested and the infringement investigated — Addressee undertaking a holding company — Irrelevant (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18) (see paras 24-31)

2. Competition — Administrative procedure — Right of undertakings to be heard — Scope — Decision to request information — Not included (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18) (see paras 35-37)

3. EU law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Conditions (see paras 41, 42)

4. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Indication of the legal basis and the purpose of the request — Scope — Infringement of the duty to state reasons — None (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 54, 55, 62, 68)

5. Competition — Administrative procedure — Observance of the rights of the defence — Possibility of the undertaking concerned fully relying on those rights only after the sending of the statement of objections (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003) (see paras 58, 59, 63)

6. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Rights of defence — Compliance with the general principle of EU law requiring protection against arbitrary or disproportionate interventions by the public authorities (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 77, 78)

7. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Procedures — Choice to be made between a simple request for information and a decision — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Judicial review (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(1) to (3)) (see paras 83, 89, 90)

8. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Request for information already in the possession of the Commission — Infringement of the said principle — Request for further clarification of information previously supplied — Lawfulness (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(3)) (see paras 97, 111, 112, 114, 117)

9. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Powers of the Commission — Limit — Requirement of a necessary link between the information requested and the infringement investigated — Public nature of the information requested (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18(1)) (see para. 118)

10. Competition — Administrative procedure — Request for information — Obligation on the Commission to make a careful and impartial examination of all the relevant factors — Sending of several successive requests — Infringement of the principle of sound administration — None (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 18) (see paras 127, 128)

11. Competition — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — Duty to act within a reasonable time — Criteria for assessment — Infringement — Consequences (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1); Council Regulation No 1/2003) (see paras 129-132)

Subject of the case

Re:

ACTION for annulment of Commission Decision C(2011) 2364 final of 30 March 2011, in the context of a procedure pursuant to Article 18(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (Case COMP/39520 — cement and related products).

Operative part

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Italmobiliare SpA to pay the costs.