Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 13 September 2012 — Total and Elf Aquitaine v Commission

(Case C-495/11 P)

‛Appeal — Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Infringement of the principles of conferred powers and of proportionality — Manifestly incorrect interpretation — Infringement of the rights of the defence and of the principles of equity and of the equality of arms — Duty to state reasons’

1. Appeals — Grounds — Requirement that criticism of the reasoning of the General Court be specific (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 112(1)(c)) (see paras 14, 29, 72, 84)

2. Competition — European Union rules — Infringements — Attribution — Parent company and subsidiaries — Economic unit — Criteria for assessment — Presumption of a decisive influence exerted by the parent company over its wholly-owned subsidiaries — Evidential obligations of the company seeking to rebut that presumption (Art. 101 TFEU) (see paras 26, 28, 31, 36, 42, 57)

3. Acts of the institutions — Grounds — Obligation — Scope — Decision imposing fines for the infringement of the competition rules and concerning a number or addressees — Attribution of the practices of a subsidiary to its parent company — Requirements of explicit grounds (Arts 101 TFEU and 296, second para. TFEU) (see paras 48-49, 51)

4. Appeals — Grounds — Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts submitted to the General Court — Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see para. 52)

5. Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Deterrent effect — Taking account of the size and overall resources of the undertaking on which the fine was imposed (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23) (see para. 80)

Re:

Appeal brought against the judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 14 July 2011 in Case T-190/06 Total and Elf Aquitaine v Commission by which that Court dismissed the action for partial annulment of Commission Decision C(2006) 1766 final of 3 May 2006 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/F/38.620 — Hydrogen peroxide and perborate) — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Infringement of the principles of conferred powers and of proportionality — Manifestly incorrect interpretation — Infringement of the rights of the defence and of the principles of equity and of the equality of arms — Duty to state reasons.

Operative part

1. The appeal is dismissed.

2. Total SA and Elf Aquitaine SA are ordered to pay the costs.

Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 13 September 2012 — Total and Elf Aquitaine v Commission

(Case C-495/11 P)

‛Appeal — Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Infringement of the principles of conferred powers and of proportionality — Manifestly incorrect interpretation — Infringement of the rights of the defence and of the principles of equity and of the equality of arms — Duty to state reasons’

1. Appeals — Grounds — Requirement that criticism of the reasoning of the General Court be specific (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 112(1)(c)) (see paras 14, 29, 72, 84)

2. Competition — European Union rules — Infringements — Attribution — Parent company and subsidiaries — Economic unit — Criteria for assessment — Presumption of a decisive influence exerted by the parent company over its wholly-owned subsidiaries — Evidential obligations of the company seeking to rebut that presumption (Art. 101 TFEU) (see paras 26, 28, 31, 36, 42, 57)

3. Acts of the institutions — Grounds — Obligation — Scope — Decision imposing fines for the infringement of the competition rules and concerning a number or addressees — Attribution of the practices of a subsidiary to its parent company — Requirements of explicit grounds (Arts 101 TFEU and 296, second para. TFEU) (see paras 48-49, 51)

4. Appeals — Grounds — Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts submitted to the General Court — Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see para. 52)

5. Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Deterrent effect — Taking account of the size and overall resources of the undertaking on which the fine was imposed (Art. 101 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23) (see para. 80)

Re:

Appeal brought against the judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 14 July 2011 in Case T-190/06 Total and Elf Aquitaine v Commission by which that Court dismissed the action for partial annulment of Commission Decision C(2006) 1766 final of 3 May 2006 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/F/38.620 — Hydrogen peroxide and perborate) — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Infringement of the principles of conferred powers and of proportionality — Manifestly incorrect interpretation — Infringement of the rights of the defence and of the principles of equity and of the equality of arms — Duty to state reasons.

Operative part

1. The appeal is dismissed.