NON-CONTRACTUAL " CUSTOMERS BY 29 % ; AND TO ABG BY 74 % .
ALSO , THE DUTCH AUTHORITIES ACCEPTED THAT DURING THE PERIOD OF THE CRISIS THERE MIGHT HAVE TO BE A REDUCTION OF ABOUT 20 % PER MONTH IN SUPPLIES TO CUSTOMERS BY COMPARISON WITH SUPPLIES DELIVERED DURING THE CORRESPONDING MONTH IN THE PRECEDING YEAR BUT IN SO DOING THEY MADE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN " CONTRACTUAL " AND " NON-CONTRACTUAL " CUSTOMERS .
UNDERTAKINGS CANNOT AVAIL THEMSELVES OF CRITERIA BASED ON THE LAW OF CONTRACT IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE REALIZATION OF THE OBJECTIVES OF COMPETITION LAW IN THE COMMUNITY , IN PARTICULAR , IN A SITUATION SUCH AS THAT FOUND TO EXIST IN THE NETHERLANDS WHERE THEIR BEHAVIOUR JEOPARDIZED THE CONTINUANCE OF A SYSTEM OF FREE COMPETITION .
FROM THE COMMUNITY LAW POINT OF VIEW , IT IS THE EXTENT , REGULARITY AND CONTINUITY OF COMMERCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WHICH OUGHT TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION . IF IT WERE OTHERWISE , THE AVAILABILITY OF SUPPLIES DURING A SHORTAGE SUCH AS THAT WHICH OCCURRED IN THE NETHERLANDS COULD BE INFLUENCED BY FIRMS WHICH ARE IN A DOMINANT POSITION FOR REASONS WHICH MAY BE CASUAL , ARTIFICIAL OR ARBITRARY . IN PARTICULAR , SUPPLY REDUCTIONS IMPOSED ON A PURCHASER , IN A PERIOD OF CRISIS , COULD DEPEND ON THE EXPIRY DATE OF HIS SUPPLY CONTRACT .
THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT IN A PERIOD OF CRISIS DOMINANT FIRMS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION PARTICULARITIES OR DIFFERENCES WHICH MAY EXIST IN THE COMMERCIAL SITUATION OF THEIR CUSTOMERS . IN PARTICULAR , THEY ARE FREE TO APPLY THE PRICES AND OTHER CONDITIONS GROUNDED FOR IN THE SUPPLY CONTRACTS AND TO CHOOSE A REFERENCE PERIOD WHICH CORRESPONDS AND IS APPROPRIATE TO THE PERIOD OF CONSTRAINT . HOWEVER , ANY DIFFERENCES IN TREATMENT WHICH MAY RESULT OUGHT TO BE OBJECTIVELY BASED AND THEIR CHOICE MAY NOT HAVE A DISCRIMINATORY EFFECT . IN ANY EVENT , IT IS ABUSIVE TO TREAT A REGULAR , LONG-STANDING AND SUBSTANTIAL CUSTOMER IN A WAY WHICH IS CLEARLY DISCRIMINATORY BY COMPARISON WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS .
BP HAD AVAILABLE A SPECIFIC QUANTITY OF MOTOR SPIRIT , WHICH IT PUT ONTO THE DUTCH MARKET DURING THE PERIOD OF CRISIS FROM NOVEMBER 1973 TO THE END OF MARCH 1974 .
THIS MOTOR SPIRIT OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED FAIRLY BY BP AMONG ALL ITS CUSTOMERS .
ON THE HYPOTHESIS OF AN EQUAL SHARING OF SUPPLIES TO BP'S VARIOUS CUSTOMERS , THE DETAILS OF WHICH ARE GIVEN IN ANNEX 2 , BP OUGHT TO HAVE SUPPLIED ABG WITH A FURTHER 27 000 M3 DURING THE FIVE-MONTH PERIOD OF CRISIS , NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE POSSIBLE 20 % REDUCTION IN OVERALL DELIVERIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DUTCH AUTHORITIES .
EVEN SUPPOSING THAT BP MIGHT HAVE HAD GROUNDS FOR SUPPLYING CONTRACTUAL AND NON-CONTRACTUAL CUSTOMERS IN DIFFERENT WAYS , IT SHOULD HAVE TREATED ABG WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION RELATIVE TO ITS OTHER NON-CONTRACTUAL CUSTOMERS .
THE ADVANCES ON CRUDE OIL