Case T-491/07 RENV: Judgment of the General Court of 30 June 2016 — CB v Commission (Competition — Decision by an association of undertakings — Market for the issue of payment cards in France — Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC — Pricing measures applicable to ‘new entrants’ — Membership fee, mechanism for ‘regulating the acquiring function’, and ‘dormant member “wake-up” mechanism’ — Relevant market — Restriction of competition by effect — Article 81(3) EC — Manifest errors of assessment — Principle of sound administration — Proportionality — Legal certainty)
Date: 2016-06-30
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: France, competition policy, domestic market, electronic money, fixing of prices, inter-company cooperation, principle of legal certainty, principle of proportionality, restriction on competition, right to justice








C_2016305EN.01002201.xml










22.8.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 305/22





Judgment of the General Court of 30 June 2016 — CB v Commission
(Case T-491/07 RENV) (1)

((Competition - Decision by an association of undertakings - Market for the issue of payment cards in France - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC - Pricing measures applicable to ‘new entrants’ - Membership fee, mechanism for ‘regulating the acquiring function’, and ‘dormant member “wake-up” mechanism’ - Relevant market - Restriction of competition by effect - Article 81(3) EC - Manifest errors of assessment - Principle of sound administration - Proportionality - Legal certainty))
(2016/C 305/30)
Language of the case: French

Parties


Applicant: Groupement des cartes bancaires (CB) (Paris, France) (represented by: F. Pradelles and J. Ruiz Calzado, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: V. Bottka and B. Mongin, Agents)

Interveners in support of the applicant: BNP Paribas (Paris) (represented by: O. de Juvigny and J. Caminati, lawyers); BPCE, formerly Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne et de Prévoyance (CNCEP) (Paris) (represented by: A. Choffel and S. Hautbourg, lawyers); and Société générale (Paris) (represented by: P. Guibert and P. Patat, lawyers)

Subject matter

Application under Article 263 TFEU seeking the annulment of Commission Decision C(2007) 5060 final of 17 October 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] (COMP/D1/38606 — Groupement des cartes bancaires ‘CB’).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court hereby:






1.


Annuls Commission Decision C(2007) 5060 final of 17 October 2007 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] (COMP/D1/38606 — Groupement des cartes bancaires ‘CB’) in so far as the European Commission ordered the Groupement, in Article 2, ‘in future to refrain from any act or any conduct having an identical or similar object’;










2.


Dismisses the action as to the remainder;










3.


Orders Groupement des cartes bancaires (CB) and the Commission to bear their own respective costs, including those incurred in the proceedings before the Court of Justice;










4.


Orders BNP Paribas, BPCE and Société générale to bear their own respective costs, including those incurred in the proceedings before the Court of Justice.






(1)  OJ C 64, 8.3.2008.