Case C‑608/13 P

Compañía Española de Petróleos (CEPSA) SA

v

European Commission

‛Appeal — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 81 EC — Spanish market for penetration bitumen — Market sharing and price coordination — Excessive duration of the proceedings before the General Court of the European Union — Excessive duration of the procedure before the European Commission — Appeal on the costs’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 9 June 2016

Competition — Administrative procedure — Rules on languages — Statement of objections — Drawn up in a language different to the official language of the Member State of the undertaking concerned — No harmful consequences for the undertaking — No infringement of essential procedural requirements — None (Arts 101 TFEU, 102 TFEU and 263 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(4); Council Regulations No 1, Art. 3 and No 1/2003)

Appeal — Jurisdiction of the Court — Whether it may review, on grounds of fairness, the assessment by the General Court in regard to the amount of the fines imposed on undertakings which have infringed the competition rules of the Treaty — Not included — Whether it may review that assessment on grounds alleging infringement of the principle of proportionality — Lawfulness (Arts 101 TFEU, 102 TFEU, 256(1) TFEU and 261 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.; Council Regulation No 1 /2003, Art. 31)

Competition — Fines — Amount — Determination — Maximum amount — Calculation — Turnover to be taken into consideration — Cumulative turnover of all the companies forming an economic entity acting as an undertaking (Arts 101 TFEU and 102 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2))

Competition — Administrative procedure — Obligations of the Commission — Duty to act within a reasonable time — Annulment of the decision finding an infringement because of the procedure’s excessive duration — Condition — Harm to the rights of defence of the undertakings concerned (Arts 101 TFEU and 102 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1); Council Regulation No 1/2003)

Competition — Fines — Determination — Failure to respect the principle of observance of a reasonable period of the administrative and judicial proceedings — Infringement not justifying, by itself, the reduction of the amount of the fine (Arts 101 TFEU and 102 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1); Council Regulation No 1/2003)

Judicial proceedings — Duration of the proceedings before the General Court — Reasonable time — Dispute concerning whether there has been an infringement of the competition rules — Failure to act within a reasonable time — Consequences — Non-contractual liability — Composition of the judgment formation (Arts 101 TFEU, 102 TFEU, 256(1), TFEU, 268 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47, second para.)

Judicial proceedings — Duration of the proceedings before the General Court — Reasonable time — Criteria for assessment (Arts 101 TFEU, 102 TFEU, 256(1) TFEU, 268 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47, second para.)