Case C-682/20 P: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 9 March 2023 — Les Mousquetaires, ITM Entreprises SAS v European Commission, Council of the European Union (Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Decision of the European Commission ordering an inspection — Remedies against the conduct of the inspection — Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Right to an effective remedy — Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 — Article 19 — Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 — Article 3 — Recording of interviews conducted by the Commission during its investigations — Starting point of the Commission’s investigation)
Date: 2023-03-09
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU competition policy, cartel, control of restrictive practices, recording, restriction on competition, right to justice








C_2023155EN.01000201.xml










2.5.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 155/2






Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 9 March 2023 — Les Mousquetaires, ITM Entreprises SAS v European Commission, Council of the European Union
(Case C-682/20 P) (1)

(Appeal - Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Decision of the European Commission ordering an inspection - Remedies against the conduct of the inspection - Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Right to an effective remedy - Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 - Article 19 - Regulation (EC) No 773/2004 - Article 3 - Recording of interviews conducted by the Commission during its investigations - Starting point of the Commission’s investigation)
(2023/C 155/02)
Language of the case: French

Parties


Appellants: Les Mousquetaires, ITM Entreprises SAS (represented by: M. Blutel, N. Jalabert-Doury and K. Mebarek, avocats)

Other parties: European Commission (represented by: P. Berghe, A. Cleenewerck de Crayencour, A. Dawes and I. V. Rogalski, acting as Agents), Council of the European Union (represented by: A.-L. Meyer and O. Segnana, acting as Agents)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Sets aside point 2 of the operative part of the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 5 October 2020, Les Mousquetaires and ITM Entreprises v Commission (T-255/17, EU:T:2020:460), in so far as it dismissed the remainder of the action brought by the appellants against Commission Decision C(2017) 1057 final of 9 February 2017 ordering Intermarché and all companies directly or indirectly controlled by it to submit to an inspection in accordance with Article 20(1) and (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (AT.40466 — Tute 1) and Commission Decision C(2017) 1361 final of 21 February 2017 ordering Les Mousquetaires and all companies directly or indirectly controlled by it to submit to an inspection in accordance with Article 20(1) and (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (AT.40467 — Tute 2);










2.


Sets aside point 3 of the operative part of the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 5 October 2020, Les Mousquetaires and ITM Entreprises v Commission (T-255/17, EU:T:2020:460), in so far as it ruled on costs;










3.


Annuls Commission Decision C(2017) 1057 final of 9 February 2017 ordering Intermarché and all companies directly or indirectly controlled by it to submit to an inspection in accordance with Article 20(1) and (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (AT.40466 — Tute 1) and Commission Decision C(2017) 1361 final of 21 February 2017 ordering Les Mousquetaires and all companies directly or indirectly controlled by it to submit to an inspection in accordance with Article 20(1) and (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (AT.40467 — Tute 2);










4.


Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Les Mousquetaires SAS and by ITM Entreprises SAS, both at first instance and in the appeal proceedings;










5.


Orders the Council of the European Union to bear its own costs, both at first instance and in the appeal proceedings.






(1)  OJ C 44, 8.2.2021.