Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 8 July 2004 in Case T-50/00: Dalmine SpA v Commission of the European Communities (Competition — Cartels — Markets for seamless steel pipes and tubes — Duration of the infringement — Fines)
Date: 2004-09-25
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, action for annulment (EU), competition, fine, market protection, restrictive trade practice, steel, tube

25.9.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 239/13

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

of 8 July 2004

of 8 July 2004

in Case T-50/00: Dalmine SpA v Commission of

the

European Communities (1)

in Joined Cases T-67/00, T-68/00, T-7100 and T-78/00: JFE
the
Engineering Corp and Others v Commission of

European Communities (1)

(Competition — Cartels — Markets for seamless steel pipes
and tubes — Duration of the infringement — Fines)

(Cartels — Market in seamless steel tubes and pipes —
EFTA — Powers of the Commission — Infringement —
Fines)

(2004/C 239/26)

(Language of the case: Italian)

(2004/C 239/27)

(Language of the case: English)

In Case T-50/00: Dalmine SpA, established in Dalmine (Italy),
represented by M. Siragusa and F. Moretti,
lawyers, with an
address for service in Luxembourg, against Commission of the
European Communities (Agents: M. Erhart and A. Whelan,
assisted by A. Dal Ferro, lawyer, with an address for service in
Luxembourg) — application for annulment of Commission
Decision 2003/382/EC of 8 December 1999 relating to a
procedure under Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case IV/E-1/
35.860-B — Seamless steel tubes) (OJ 2003 L 140, p. 1) or,
alternatively, for a reduction in the amount of the fine imposed
on the applicant — the Court of First
Instance (Second
Chamber), composed of N.J. Forwood, President, J. Pirrung and
A.W.H. Meij, Judges; J. Plingers, Administrator, for the Regis-
trar, gave a judgment on 8 July 2004, in which it:

1. Annuls Article 1(2) of Commission Decision 2003/382/EC of
8 December 1999 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 EC
(Case IV/E–1/35.860-B Seamless steel tubes) in so far as it finds
that the infringement imputed to the applicant by that provision
existed before 1 January 1991;

2. Fixes the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant in Article 4

of Decision 2003/382 at EUR 10,080,000;

3. Dismisses the remainder of the application;

4. Orders the applicant and the Commission to bear their own costs.

(1) OJ C 149 of 27.5.2000.

In Joined Cases T-67/00, T-68/00, T-7100 and T-78/00: JFE
Engineering Corp., formerly NKK Corp., established in Tokyo
(Japan), represented initially by M. Smith and C. Maguire, solici-
tors, and subsequently by A. Vandencasteele and V. Dehin,
lawyers, and A.-L. Marmagioli, solicitor, with an address for
service in Luxembourg, Nippon Steel Corp., established in
Tokyo, represented by J.-F. Bellis and K. Van Hove,
lawyers,
with an address for service in Luxembourg, JFE Steel Corp.,
formerly Kawasaki Steel Corp., established in Tokyo, repre-
lawyer, with an address for
sented by A. Vandencasteele,
service in Luxembourg, Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd, estab-
lished in Tokyo, represented by C. Vajda QC, G. Sproul and F.
Weitzman, solicitors, with an address for service in Luxem-
the European Communities
bourg, against Commission of
(Agents: M. Erhart and A. Whelan assisted by N. Khan,
barrister, with an address
in Luxembourg),
supported by EFTA Surveillance Authority (Agents: D. Sif
Tynes and P Bjørgan — application for the annulment of
Commission Decision 2003/382/EC of 8 December 1999
relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty
(Case IV/E-1/35.860-B seamless steel tubes) (OJ 2003 L 140, p.
1) or, in the alternative, for reduction of the fines imposed on
the applicants, — the Court of First
(Second
Chamber), composed of N.J. Forwood, President, J. Pirrung and
A.W.H. Meij, Judges; J. Plingers, Administrator, for the Regis-
trar, gave a judgment on 8 July 2004, in which it:

Instance

service

for

1. Annuls Article 1(2) of Commission Decision 2003/382/EC of
8 December 1999 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of
the EC Treaty (Case IV/E-1/35.860-B seamless steel tubes) in so
far as it establishes the existence of the infringement found in that
article against the four applicants in Cases T-67/00, T-68/00,
T-71/00 and T-78/00 as pre-dating 1 January 1991 and
extending beyond 30 June 1994;