Case T-480/15: Judgment of the General Court of 16 May 2017 — Agria Polska and Others v Commission (Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Abuse of dominant position — Distribution of plant protection products market — Decision to reject a complaint — Alleged anticompetitive behaviour of producers and distributors — Concerted or coordinated action of lodging complaints, by producers and distributors, before administrative and criminal authorities — Reporting alleged infringements of the applicable rules by parallel importers — Administrative inspections subsequently carried out by the administrative authorities — Imposition of administrative and criminal penalties by national authorities on parallel importers — Assimilation of complaints by producers and distributors to vexatious actions or abuses of administrative procedures — Lack of European Union interest — Right to effective judicial protection)
Date: 2017-05-16
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: administrative sanction, cartel, complaint to the Commission, control of restrictive practices, dominant position, penalty, plant health product, right to justice








C_2017221EN.01001901.xml










10.7.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 221/19





Judgment of the General Court of 16 May 2017 — Agria Polska and Others v Commission
(Case T-480/15) (1)

((Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Abuse of dominant position - Distribution of plant protection products market - Decision to reject a complaint - Alleged anticompetitive behaviour of producers and distributors - Concerted or coordinated action of lodging complaints, by producers and distributors, before administrative and criminal authorities - Reporting alleged infringements of the applicable rules by parallel importers - Administrative inspections subsequently carried out by the administrative authorities - Imposition of administrative and criminal penalties by national authorities on parallel importers - Assimilation of complaints by producers and distributors to vexatious actions or abuses of administrative procedures - Lack of European Union interest - Right to effective judicial protection))
(2017/C 221/24)
Language of the case: Polish

Parties


Applicants: Agria Polska sp. z o.o., (Sosnowiec, Poland), Agria Chemicals Poland sp. z o.o., (Sosnowiec), Star Agro Analyse und Handels GmbH (Allerheiligen bei Wildon, Austria) and Agria Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Allerheiligen bei Wildon) (represented initially by S. Dudzik and J. Budzik, and subsequently by P. Graczyk and W. Rocławski, lawyers,)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: J. Szczodrowski, A. Dawes and J. Norris Usher, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Decision C(2015) 4284 final of 19 June 2015 (Case AT.39864 — BASF (formerly AGRIA and Others v BASF and Others)), rejecting the applicants’ complaint concerning infringements of Article 101 and/or Article 102 TFEU allegedly committed, essentially, by 13 producers and distributors of plant protection products, with the assistance or through four professional organisations and a law firm.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the action;










2.


Orders Agria Polska sp. z o.o., Agria Chemicals Poland sp. z o.o., Star Agro Analyse und Handels GmbH and Agria Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH to pay the costs.






(1)  OJ C 337, 12.10.2015.