Case C-382/12 P: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 11 September 2014  — MasterCard Inc., MasterCard International Inc., MasterCard Europe SPRL v European Commission, Banco Santander SA, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, HSBC Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, British Retail Consortium, EuroCommerce AISBL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Appeal — Cross-appeals — Admissibility — Article 81 EC — Open system of payment by debit, charge and credit cards — Multilateral fallback interchange fees — Association of undertakings — Restrictions of competition by effect — Standard of judicial review — Concept of ‘ancillary restriction’  — Objectively necessary and proportionate nature — Appropriate ‘counterfactual hypotheses’  — Two-sided systems — Treatment of annexes to the application at first instance)
Date: 2014-09-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: electronic money, inter-company cooperation, restriction on competition








C_2014409EN.01000401.xml










17.11.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 409/4





Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 11 September 2014 — MasterCard Inc., MasterCard International Inc., MasterCard Europe SPRL v European Commission, Banco Santander SA, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, HSBC Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, British Retail Consortium, EuroCommerce AISBL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(Case C-382/12 P) (1)

((Appeal - Cross-appeals - Admissibility - Article 81 EC - Open system of payment by debit, charge and credit cards - Multilateral fallback interchange fees - Association of undertakings - Restrictions of competition by effect - Standard of judicial review - Concept of ‘ancillary restriction’ - Objectively necessary and proportionate nature - Appropriate ‘counterfactual hypotheses’ - Two-sided systems - Treatment of annexes to the application at first instance))
2014/C 409/04
Language of the case: English

Parties


Appellants: MasterCard Inc., MasterCard International Inc., MasterCard Europe SPRL (represented by: E. Barbier de la Serre, V. Brophy and B. Amory, avocats, and T. Sharpe QC)

Other parties to the proceedings: European Commission (represented by: V. Bottka and N. Khan, acting as Agents), Banco Santander SA, Royal Bank of Scotland plc (represented by: D. Liddell, Solicitor, and M. Hoskins, Barrister), HSBC Bank plc (represented by: R. Thompson QC), Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc (represented by: K. Fountoukakos-Kyriakakos and S. Wisking, Solicitors, and J. Flynn QC), MBNA Europe Bank Ltd (represented by: A. Davis, Solicitor), British Retail Consortium (represented by: R. Marchini, advocate, and A. Robertson, Barrister), EuroCommerce AISBL (represented by: J. Stuyck, advocaat), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by: M. Holt and C. Murrell, acting as Agents, J. Turner QC and J. Holmes, Barrister)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1)


Dismisses the main appeal and the cross-appeals;










2)


Orders MasterCard Inc., MasterCard International Inc. and MasterCard Europe SPRL to bear their own costs relating to the main appeal and the cross-appeals, and to pay the European Commission’s costs relating to the main appeal;










3)


Orders Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Bank of Scotland plc and Lloyds TSB Bank plc to bear their own costs and to pay the European Commission’s costs relating to their respective cross-appeals;










4)


Orders HSBC Bank plc, MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, British Retail Consortium, EuroCommerce AISBL and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear their own costs.






(1)  OJ C 319, 20.10.2012.