Case C‑616/13 P

Productos Asfálticos (PROAS) 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 — Fines — Amount — Determination — Infringements classified as very serious on the basis of their nature alone — Obligation to demonstrate an actual impact of the infringement on the market — None (Art. 101 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2); Commission communication 98/C 9/03, point 1 A)

Competition — Fines — Amount — Judicial review — Unlimited jurisdiction — Review of legality — Scope and limits — Unlimited jurisdiction strictly limited to determining the amount of the fine imposed — No error by the General Court (Arts 101 TFEU, 102 TFEU, 261 TFEU and 263 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2) and (31))

Appeal — Grounds — Mistaken assessment of the facts — Inadmissibility — Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts and evidence — Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256(1) TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)

Appeal — Grounds — Review by the Court of Justice of the General Court’s refusal to order measures of inquiry — Review by the Court of Justice of the General Court’s need to supplement the information — Scope (Art. 256(1) TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 64 and 66(1))

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.)