Case T-114/02





BaByliss SA

v

Commission of the European Communities





«(Competition – Concentrations – Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 – Action brought by a third party – Admissibility – Commitments in the course of the first phase of examination – Trade mark licence – Modification of commitments – Time-limits – Financial aid by the State – Nominal purchase price – Serious doubts as to the compatibility of the concentration with the common market – Absence of commitment on markets with serious competition problems)»

Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Third Chamber), 3 April 2003

Summary of the Judgment

1.. Actions for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Measures of direct and individual concern to them – Decision declaring a concentration compatible with the common market – Third-party undertaking which actively participated in the administrative procedure and which has the status of a potential competitor – Whether admissible

(Art. 230, fourth para., EC)

2.. Competition – Concentrations – Administrative procedure – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned – Modifications notified after the time-limit – Account taken by the Commission of the modified commitments in order to find the concentration compatible with the common market – Whether permissible – Conditions

(Commission Regulation No 447/98, Art. 18(1); Commission Notice on remedies acceptable under Regulations No 4064/89 and No 447/98, para. 37)

3.. Competition – Concentrations – Investigation by the Commission – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible with the common market – Nature of commitments allowing the Commission to refrain from initiating the Phase II procedure – Commitments excluding all serious doubts – Behavioural commitments – Whether included

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 6(1); Commission Notice on remedies acceptable under Regulations No 4064/89 and No 447/98)

4.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible – Concentration between undertakings active on the markets for small electrical household appliances – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences – Remedy for competition problems raised by the concentration – Conditions

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 8(2))

5.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible – Concentration between undertakings active on the markets for small electrical household appliances – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences – Limited obligation to obtain supplies imposed on one licensee – Whether permissible – Conditions

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 8(2))

6.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Assessment criteria – Absence of a significant overlap between the parties to a concentration – Relevance – Limits

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3))

7.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Assessment criteria – Presence of competitors – Relevance dependent on strength of competitors

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3))

8.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – No dominant position impeding competition created or strengthened – Independent assessment of the various markets for the products concerned – Limits – Need to take account of the overall competition situation and the factors liable to strengthen the economic power of the entity arising from the concentration – Failure to establish the absence of serious risks in the case of a concentration of the turnover of the entity arising from the concentration on the sectors not dominated

(Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(2) and (3))

9.. Procedure – Intervention – Plea in law not raised by the applicant – Inadmissible

(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 37, third and fourth paras; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 116(3))

10.. Competition – Concentrations – Assessment of compatibility with the common market – Commitments entered into by the undertakings concerned likely to make the notified concentration compatible with the common market – Requirement of compatibility with Article 81 EC – Commitment to grant trade-mark licences containing a clause requiring the licensee to concentrate sales on the territory of a Member State – Whether permissible

(Art. 81(1) and (3) EC; Council Regulation No 4064/89, Art. 2(1))

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