Case T-201/17: Judgment of the General Court of 12 February 2019 — Printeos v Commission [Non-contractual liability — Competition — Cartels — Decision finding infringement of Article 101 TFEU — Fines — Judgment annulling the decision in part — Reimbursement of the principal amount of the fine — Default interest — Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law conferring rights on individuals — Causal link — Harm — Article 266 TFEU — Article 90(4)(a), second sentence, of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012]
Date: 2019-02-12
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: cartel, control of restrictive practices, damages, fundamental rights, restriction on competition, sanction (EU)








C_2019122EN.01001502.xml










1.4.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 122/15






Judgment of the General Court of 12 February 2019 — Printeos v Commission
(Case T-201/17) (1)

(Non-contractual liability - Competition - Cartels - Decision finding infringement of Article 101 TFEU - Fines - Judgment annulling the decision in part - Reimbursement of the principal amount of the fine - Default interest - Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law conferring rights on individuals - Causal link - Harm - Article 266 TFEU - Article 90(4)(a), second sentence, of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012)
(2019/C 122/17)
Language of the case: Spanish

Parties


Applicant: Printeos, SA (Alcalá de Henares, Spain) (represented by: H. Brokelmann and P. Martínez-Lage Sobredo, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: F. Dintilhac and F. Jimeno Fernández, acting as Agents)

Re:

Principally, application under Article 268 TFEU seeking compensation in respect of the harm suffered as a result of the Commission’s refusal to pay the applicant default interest on the principal amount of a fine which was reimbursed following the annulment of its Decision C(2014) 92 95 final of 10 December 2014 relating to a proceeding under Article 101 [TFEU] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (AT.39780 — Envelopes), by the judgment of 13 December 2016, Printeos and Others v Commission (T-95/15, EU:T:2016:722); and, in the alternative, application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of the Commission’s decision of 26 January 2017 refusing that reimbursement.

Operative part of the judgment







1.



The European Union, represented by the European Commission, is required to pay compensation in respect of the damage suffered by Printeos, SA, on account of the failure to pay to that company the amount of EUR 184 592.95 due to it in respect of default interest, incurred during the period from 9 March 2015 to 1 February 2017, pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 266 TFEU, in enforcement of the judgment of 13 December 2016, Printeos and Others v Commission (T-95/15);











2.



The compensation referred to in paragraph 1 is to bear default interest, starting from the date of delivery of this judgment and continuing until full payment, at the rate set by the European Central Bank (ECB) for its principal refinancing operations, plus 3.5 percentage points;











3.



The action is dismissed as to the remainder;











4.



The Commission is ordered to pay the costs.







(1)  OJ C 168, 29.5.2017.