CELEX: 62008TJ0299
Language: en
Date: 2011-05-17
Title: Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 17 May 2011.#Elf Aquitaine SA v European Commission.#Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Market in sodium chlorate - Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC and Article 53 EEA - Imputability of the infringement - Rights of the defence - Obligation to state reasons - Principle that penalties must fit the offence - Principle that penalties must have a proper legal basis - Presumption of innocence - Principle of sound administration - Principle of legal certainty - Misuse of powers - Fines - Aggravating circumstance - Deterrence - Mitigating circumstance - Cooperation during the administrative procedure - Significant added value.#Case T-299/08.

Case T-299/08
      Elf Aquitaine SA
      v
      European Commission
      (Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Sodium chlorate market – Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement – Imputability of the unlawful conduct – Rights of the defence – Duty to state reasons – Principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender – Principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law – Presumption of innocence – Principle of sound administration – Principle of legal certainty – Misuse of powers – Fines – Aggravating circumstance – Deterrence – Attenuating circumstance – Cooperation during the administrative procedure – Significant added value)
      Summary of the Judgment
      1.      Competition – Community rules – Infringements – Attribution – Parent company and subsidiaries – Economic unit – Criteria for
            assessment
      (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2))
      2.      Competition – Administrative procedure – Statement of objections – Necessary content – Observance of the rights of the defence
            – Scope
      (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Arts 23 and 27(1))
      3.      Competition – Community rules – Infringements – Attribution – Parent company and subsidiaries – Economic unit – Criteria for
            assessment
      (Art. 81(1) EC)
      4.      Competition – Community rules – Infringements – Attribution – Parent company and subsidiaries – Economic unit
      (Arts 81 EC and 82 EC; Council Regulation No 17, Art. 15(2); Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2))
      5.      Competition – Community rules – Infringements – Attribution – Parent company and subsidiaries – Economic unit – Criteria for
            assessment
      (Art. 81(1) EC)
      6.      Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Decision to apply competition rules – Decision relating
            to several addresses – Need for an adequate statement of reasons in particular with respect to the entity which must bear
            the liability for an infringement
      (Arts 81(1) EC and 253 EC)
      7.      Acts of the institutions – Presumption of validity – Commission decision attributing to a parent company the infringement
            of competition law committed by its subsidiary
      (Art. 249 EC)
      8.      Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Deterrent effect
      (Art. 81 EC; Counci1 Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 23(2); Commission Notice 2006/C 210/02, Sections 25 and 30)
      9.      Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Non-imposition or reduction of the fine for cooperation by the undertaking
            concerned – Need for conduct which facilitated the Commission’s finding of an infringement
      (Council Regulation No 1/2003, Arts 18 and 23(2); Commission Notice 2002/C 45/03, Sections 20, 21 and 23b))
      10.    Competition – Fines – Amount – Determination – Discretion of the Commission – Judicial review – Unlimited jurisdiction of
            the European Union judicature
      (Art. 229 EC; Council Regulation No 1/2003, Art. 31)
      1.      The conduct of a subsidiary may be imputed to the parent company in particular where, although having a separate legal personality,
         that subsidiary does not decide independently upon its own conduct on the market, but carries out, in all material respects,
         the instructions given to it by the parent company, having regard in particular to the economic, organisational and legal
         links between those two legal entities. That is the case because, in such a situation, the parent company and its subsidiary
         form a single economic unit and therefore form a single undertaking, which enables the Commission to address a decision imposing
         fines to the parent company, without having to establish the personal involvement of the latter in the infringement.
      
      In the specific case where a parent company has a 100% shareholding in a subsidiary which has infringed the competition rules,
         first, the parent company can exercise a decisive influence over the conduct of the subsidiary and, second, there is a rebuttable
         presumption that the parent company does in fact exercise a decisive influence over the conduct of its subsidiary.
      
      In those circumstances, it is sufficient for the Commission to prove that the subsidiary is wholly owned by the parent company
         in order to presume that the parent exercises a decisive influence over the commercial policy of the subsidiary. The Commission
         will then be able to regard the parent company as jointly and severally liable for the payment of the fine imposed on its
         subsidiary, unless the parent company, which has the burden of rebutting that presumption, adduces sufficient evidence to
         show that its subsidiary acts independently on the market.
      
      The Commission is not required to corroborate that presumption of the exercise of decisive influence by additional indicia.
         Even though an earlier practice of the Commission in taking decisions consisted in corroborating that presumption by additional
         indicia, such an assertion does not affect the conclusion that the Commission is entitled, to rely solely on the fact that
         a parent company held virtually all the shares in its subsidiary to presume that it exercised decisive influence over that
         undertaking.
      
      (see paras 49-52, 59)
      2.      Respect for the rights of the defence requires that the undertaking against which proceedings have been brought for infringement
         of the competition rules must have been afforded the opportunity, during the administrative procedure initiated before the
         Commission, to make known its views on the truth and relevance of the facts and circumstances alleged and on the documents
         used by the Commission to support its claim that there has been an infringement of the Treaty.
      
      Regulation No 1/2003 provides in Article 27(1) that the parties are to be sent a statement of objections which must set forth
         clearly all the essential facts upon which the Commission is relying at that stage of the procedure, to enable those concerned
         to be aware of the conduct in which the Commission alleges they have been engaged and to put forward their defence before
         the Commission adopts a final decision.
      
      That statement of objections constitutes the procedural safeguard applying the fundamental principle of Community law which
         requires observance of the rights of the defence in all proceedings. That principle requires, in particular, that the statement
         of objections which the Commission sends to an undertaking on which it envisages imposing a penalty for an infringement of
         the competition rules contain the essential elements used against it, such as the facts, the characterisation of those facts
         and the evidence on which the Commission relies, so that the undertaking may submit its arguments effectively in the administrative
         procedure brought against it.
      
      In particular, the statement of objections must specify unequivocally the legal person on whom fines may be imposed, it must
         be addressed to that person and it must indicate in what capacity that person is called upon to answer the allegations. It
         is by the statement of objections that the undertaking concerned is informed of all the essential elements on which the Commission
         is relying at that stage of the procedure. Consequently, it is only after notification of the statement of objections that
         the undertaking is able to rely in full on its rights of defence.
      
      Thus, where the Commission, in a statement of objections, informs the parent company that it intends to impute to it, on the
         basis of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, the unlawful conduct of its subsidiary, the fact that the
         Commission did not carry out any measure of investigation against that company before notifying it of that statement of objections
         does not infringe the rights of defence of that undertaking. In this connection, that company is given the opportunity during
         the administrative procedure to put forward its views on the reality and relevance of the facts and circumstances alleged
         by the Commission in the statement of objections, both in its observations in response to the statement of objections and
         at a hearing before the hearing officer.
      
      (see paras 134-140)
      3.      Under the principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender, a natural or legal person may be penalised only
         for acts imputed to it individually. That principle applies in any administrative procedure that may lead to the imposition
         of sanctions under competition law.
      
      However, that principle must be reconciled with the concept of undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC. Thus, where
         the economic entity infringes the competition rules, it must, according to the principle of personal liability, answer for
         that infringement.
      
      It is not a relationship between the parent company and its subsidiary in which the parent company instigates the infringement
         or, a fortiori, the parent company’s involvement in the infringement, but the fact that they constitute a single undertaking
         for the purposes of Article 81 EC that enables the Commission to address the decision imposing fines to the parent company
         of a group of companies. 
      
      Accordingly, the Commission is not infringing the principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender in condemning
         a parent company for an infringement which it is deemed to have committed itself because of its economic and legal links with
         its subsidiary, which enabled it to determine the latter’s conduct on the market.
      
      (see paras 178-181)
      4.      The principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law requires that legislation must clearly define offences and the
         penalties which they attract. That condition is satisfied where the individual concerned is in a position, on the basis of
         the relevant provision and if need be with the help of the interpretative assistance given by the courts, to know which acts
         or omissions will make him criminally liable.
      
      Under Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003, the Commission may by decision impose fines
         on undertakings which infringe, in particular, Article 81 EC. In so far as a parent company and its subsidiary were considered
         to form an undertaking within the meaning of that latter article, the Commission is able, without committing a breach of the
         principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law, to impose a fine on the legal persons forming part of that undertaking.
      
      (see paras 187-189)
      5.      The principle of equal treatment requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations
         must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified.
      
      In a Commission decision imposing a fine on a parent company for an infringement of the competition rules committed by its
         subsidiary, in accordance with the presumption of the decisive influence of the parent company holding virtually all the shares
         in its subsidiary, the Commission has a discretion to decide whether it is appropriate to impute liability for an infringement
         to the parent company.
      
      Consequently, since the Commission is able, but under no obligation, to impute liability for the infringement to a parent
         company, where the conditions on which such liability may be imputed are met, the mere fact that the Commission did not impute
         such liability in another case does not mean that it is under an obligation to make the same assessment in the contested decision.
         However, such imputation is subject to review by the European Union judicature, to which it falls to determine that the conditions
         of such imputation are met.
      
      (see paras 196-198)
      6.      The statement of reasons required by Article 253 EC must be appropriate to the act at issue and must disclose in a clear and
         unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure in question in such a way as to enable
         the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and to enable the competent Court to exercise its power of
         review. It is not necessary for the reasoning to go into all the relevant facts and points of law, since the question whether
         the statement of reasons meets the requirements of Article 253 EC must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but
         also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question.
      
      Where a decision taken in application of Article 81 EC relates to several addressees and raises a problem with regard to liability
         for the infringement, it must include an adequate statement of reasons with respect to each of the addressees, in particular
         those of them who, according to the decision, must bear the liability for the infringement. Thus, in order to contain an adequate
         statement of reasons in regard to the parent companies of the subsidiaries which have committed the infringement, the Commission’s
         decision must contain a detailed statement of reasons for imputing the infringement to those companies.
      
      (see paras 216-217)
      7.      The Commission’s decisions are presumed to be lawful and produce legal effects until such time as they are annulled or withdrawn.
         In addition, the Commission is not required to suspend the procedure brought against a company, for infringement of the competition
         rules, pending the decision of the European Union judicature in an action brought by the same company against another decision
         penalising it for other infringements of the competition rules.  There is no legal provision that requires that the Commission
         suspend the adoption of decisions in cases relating to different facts. 
      
      (see para. 241)
      8.      In the context of the Commission’s power to impose fines on undertakings which commit an infringement of Article 81 EC, it
         falls, in principle, to the legal or natural person managing the undertaking in question when the infringement was committed
         to answer for that infringement, even if, when the decision finding the infringement was adopted, another person had assumed
         responsibility for operating the undertaking. For the purposes of their application and their implementation, decisions adopted
         by the Commission under Article 81 EC must, however, be addressed to entities having legal personality. Thus, when the Commission
         adopts a decision pursuant to Article 81(1) EC, it must identify the natural or legal person or persons, who may be held liable
         for the conduct of the undertaking in question and who may be penalised on that basis, to whom the decision will be addressed.
      
      The Guidelines on setting fines which the Commission adopts ensure legal certainty on the part of undertakings, since they
         determine the method which the Commission has bound itself to use for the purposes of setting fines. The administration may
         not depart from those Guidelines in an individual case without giving reasons that are compatible with the principle of equal
         treatment.
      
      In the case of two undertakings, namely a parent company and a subsidiary, forming, at the time the infringement was committed,
         an undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC, but no longer existing in that form at the time of the adoption of the
         decision imposing a fine upon them, the Commission is entitled, first, to impose jointly and severally on those two undertakings
         which have to answer for the infringement committed, a fine pursuant to Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003, and, second,
         to impose an increase of the basic amount of the fine under Section 30 of the Guidelines on the method of setting fines imposed
         pursuant to Article 23(2)(a) of Regulation No 1/2003 on the parent company alone, given that that company’s turnover was on
         the date of adoption of the contested decision particularly large by comparison with the other entities penalised and it could
         thus more readily raise the necessary funds to pay a fine.
      
      In that regard, the fact that the fine, imposed for deterrence on the parent company alone, is calculated by reference to
         the basic amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on the two companies, which already includes a specific increase
         for deterrence, is not unfair. 
      
      The fine imposed jointly and severally on the two companies corresponds to the basic amount of the fine, which includes an
         additional increase calculated at a specified rate of the value of the subsidiary’s sales, in accordance with Section 25 of
         the Guidelines, ‘in order to deter undertakings from even entering into horizontal price-fixing, market-sharing and output-limitation
         agreements’. 
      
      Conversely, the fine imposed on the parent company alone and including a significant increase of the basic amount of the fine
         is intended, in accordance with Section 30 of the Guidelines, to ‘ensure that fines have a sufficiently deterrent effect’
         for undertakings whose turnover, beyond the sales of goods or services to which the infringement relates, is particularly
         large.
      
      Therefore, first, the additional amount applied pursuant to Section 25 of those Guidelines, and, second, the specific increase
         imposed on the parent company pursuant to Section 30 of those Guidelines, correspond to two distinct objectives of deterrence,
         which the Commission is entitled to take into account when determining the fine.
      
      (see paras 250-253, 255-256, 288-289)
      9.      The Commission has a wide discretion as regards the method of calculating fines and it may, in that regard, take account of
         numerous factors, including the cooperation provided by the undertakings concerned during the investigation conducted by its
         departments. In that context, the Commission is required to make complex assessments of fact, such as those relating to the
         cooperation provided by the individual undertakings concerned. In assessing the cooperation given by members of a cartel,
         only a manifest error of assessment on the part of the Commission is open to censure, since the Commission enjoys a wide discretion
         in assessing the quality and usefulness of the cooperation provided by an undertaking, especially in comparison with the contributions
         made by other undertakings. 
      
      While the Commission is required to state the reasons for which it considers that information provided by undertakings under
         the Notice on Immunity from fines and reduction of fines in cartel cases constitutes a contribution which does or does not
         justify a reduction of the fine, it is incumbent on undertakings wishing to contest the Commission’s decision in that regard
         to show that, in the absence of such information provided voluntarily by the undertakings, the Commission would not have been
         in a position to prove the essential elements of the infringement and therefore adopt a decision imposing fines.
      
      The reduction of fines in cases where the undertakings which participated in infringements of competition law have offered
         cooperation is justified only where it is considered that the cooperation made it easier for the Commission to establish an
         infringement and, as the case may be, to put an end to it. In view of the rationale for the reduction, the Commission cannot
         disregard the usefulness of the information provided, which inevitably depends on the evidence already in its possession.
      
      Where an undertaking providing cooperation does no more than confirm, in a less precise and explicit manner, certain information
         that has already been provided by another undertaking by way of cooperation, the extent of the cooperation provided by the
         former undertaking, while possibly of some benefit to the Commission, cannot be treated as comparable with that of the cooperation
         provided by the undertaking which was the first to supply that information. A statement which merely corroborates to a certain
         degree a statement which the Commission already had at its disposal does not facilitate the Commission’s task significantly.
         Accordingly, it cannot be sufficient to justify a reduction of the fine for cooperation. Moreover, the cooperation of an undertaking
         in the investigation gives no entitlement to a reduction in a fine where that cooperation went no further than the cooperation
         incumbent on it under Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003.
      
      (see paras 340-344)
      10.    As regards the review carried out by the European Union judicature in respect of Commission decisions on competition matters,
         more than a simple review of legality, which merely permits dismissal of the action for annulment or annulment of the contested
         measure, the unlimited jurisdiction conferred on the General Court by Article 31 of Regulation No 1/2003 in accordance with
         Article 229 EC authorises the Court to vary the contested measure, even without annulling it, by taking into account all the
         factual circumstances, so as to amend, for example, the amount of the fine.
      
      (see para. 379)
JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Second Chamber)
      17 May 2011 (*)
      
      (Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Sodium chlorate market – Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement – Imputability of the unlawful conduct – Rights of the defence – Obligation to state the reasons on which the decision is based – Principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender – Principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law – Presumption of innocence – Principle of sound administration – Principle of legal certainty – Misuse of powers – Fines – Aggravating circumstance – Deterrence – Attenuating circumstance – Cooperation during the administrative procedure – Significant added value)
      In Case T‑299/08,
      Elf Aquitaine SA, established in Courbevoie (France), represented by É. Morgan de Rivery and S. Thibault-Liger, lawyers,
      
      applicant,
      v
      European Commission, represented by X. Lewis, É. Gippini Fournier and R. Sauer, acting as Agents,
      
      defendant,
      APPLICATION for, principally, annulment of Commission Decision C(2008) 2626 final of 11 June 2008 relating to a proceeding
         under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) (Case COMP/38.695 – Sodium chlorate),
         in so far as it concerns the applicant, and, in the alternative, annulment or reduction of the fines imposed on the applicant
         in that decision, 
      
      THE GENERAL COURT (Second Chamber),
      composed of I. Pelikánová, President, K. Jürimäe (Rapporteur) and S. Soldevila Fragoso, Judges,
      Registrar: C. Kristensen, Administrator,
      having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 2 June 2010,
      gives the following
      Judgment
       Background to the dispute
      1        By Decision C(2008) 2626 final of 11 June 2008 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the Agreement
         on the European Economic Area (EEA) (Case COMP/38.695 – Sodium chlorate) (‘the contested decision), the Commission of the
         European Communities imposed sanctions on, among other undertakings, the applicant, Elf Aquitaine SA, which until 2006 was
         the parent company of Arkema France (formerly Atochem SA, then Elf Atochem SA, then Atofina SA and Arkema SA) on account of
         their participation in a complex of agreements and concerted practices affecting the sodium chlorate market in the EEA for
         the period 11 May 1995 to 9 February 2000 so far as the applicant and Arkema France were concerned (recitals 12 to 15 to and
         Article 1 of the contested decision).
      
      2        Sodium chlorate is a strong oxidising agent manufactured by the electrolysis of a sodium chloride water solution in a diaphragm-less
         cell. Sodium chlorate can be produced as a crystal product or as a solution product. Its largest application is for the manufacturing
         of chlorine dioxide, which is used in the pulp and paper industry for the bleaching of chemical pulp. Other applications include,
         to a lesser extent, drinking water purification, textile bleaching, herbicides and uranium refining (recital 2 to the contested
         decision). 
      
      3        The main competitors on the sodium chlorate market in the EEA were, in 1999, the following undertakings. First of all, EKA
         Chemicals AB (‘EKA’), whose share capital was wholly owned by the Akzo Nobel group, which held 49% of the market. Finnish
         Chemicals Oy, whose share capital was indirectly and wholly owned by Erikem Luxembourg SA (‘ELSA’), which held 30% of the
         market. Next, Arkema France, 97.55% of whose share capital was owned by the applicant between 1992 and 2000, had a 9% market
         share. Last, Aragonesas Industrias y Energia SAU (‘Aragonesas’), whose share capital was wholly owned between 1992 and 2000,
         directly or indirectly, by Uralita SA, had, as did Solvay SA/NV, a 5% share of the market, while other producers jointly had
         2% of the market (recitals 13, 14, 25 to 30, 42 and 46 to the contested decision).
      
      4        On 28 March 2003 EKA lodged an application with the Commission for immunity under the Commission notice of 19 February 2002
         on immunity from fines and reduction of fines in cartel cases (OJ 2002 C 45, p. 3; ‘the 2002 Leniency Notice’) concerning
         the existence of a cartel on the sodium chlorate market (‘the cartel’). EKA supported that application by documentary evidence
         and an oral statement (recitals 54 and 55 to the contested decision).
      
      5        On 30 September 2003 the Commission adopted a decision granting EKA conditional immunity in accordance with point 15 of the
         2002 Leniency Notice (recital 55 to the contested decision).
      
      6        On 10 September 2004 the Commission sent requests for information to Finnish Chemicals, Arkema France and Aragonesas, pursuant
         to Article 18(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition
         laid down in Articles 81 [EC] and 82 [EC] (OJ 2003 L 1, p. 1) (recital 56 to the contested decision).
      
      7        On 18 October 2004 Arkema France, in its response to the Commission’s request for information referred to at paragraph 6 above,
         submitted an application under the 2002 Leniency Notice (recital 57 to the contested decision). 
      
      8        On 29 October 2004 Finnish Chemicals lodged an application under the 2002 Leniency Notice with the Commission and provided
         the Commission orally with information relating to the cartel. Finnish Chemicals confirmed that application by letter of 2
         November 2004 and at the same time provided documentary evidence relating to its participation in the infringement in question
         (recital 58 to the contested decision).
      
      9        Beginning on 4 November 2004, the Commission sent requests for information pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation No 1/2003
         to, among other undertakings, Arkema France, Aragonesas, EKA and Finnish Chemicals. The Commission also met the latter two
         undertakings. As regards the applicant, the Commission first sent it a request for information on 11 April 2008 (recitals
         59 to 65 to the contested decision).
      
      10      By letter of 11 July 2007 the Commission informed Arkema France that it intended to reject its application under the 2002
         Leniency Notice (recital 563 to the contested decision). 
      
      11      By letter of the same date the Commission also informed Finnish Chemicals that it intended to grant it, under the 2002 Leniency
         Notice, a reduction of 30 to 50% of the amount of any fine imposed on it (recital 583 to the contested decision). 
      
      12      On 27 July 2007 the Commission adopted a statement of objections, addressed to, in addition to the applicant, EKA, Akzo Nobel
         NV, Finnish Chemicals, ELSA, Arkema France, Aragonesas and Uralita. The addressees responded to the statement of objections
         within the prescribed period (recitals 66 and 67 to the contested decision).
      
      13      On 20 November 2007 Arkema France and the applicant, among others, exercised their right to be heard orally at a hearing before
         the hearing officer (recital 68 to the contested decision). 
      
      14      On 11 June 2008 the Commission adopted the contested decision, which was notified to the applicant on 16 June 2008.
      
      15      In the contested decision, the Commission observes, in substance, that Arkema France, EKA, Finnish Chemicals and Aragonesas
         pursued a strategy of stabilising the sodium chlorate market, the ultimate aim of which was to allocate sales volumes of that
         product among themselves, to coordinate the pricing policy towards their customers and thus to maximise their margins. The
         functioning of the cartel was based on frequent contacts between competitors in the form of bi- or multilateral meetings and
         telephone conversations, but without following a fixed pattern. According to the Commission, those collusive practices took
         place from 21 September 1994 for EKA and Finnish Chemicals, from 17 May 1995 for Arkema France, from 16 December 1996 for
         Aragonesas and from 13 February 1997 for ELSA. The practices continued until 9 February 2000, at least so far as Arkema France,
         EKA, Finnish Chemicals and Aragonesas are concerned (recitals 69 to 71 to the contested decision).
      
      16      As regards, in particular, the unlawful conduct of Arkema France, the Commission observes that the facts set out in the contested
         decision show that that undertaking participated directly in the anti-competitive practices in question. The Commission also
         observes that throughout the infringement period the applicant held more than 97% of the shares in Arkema France. For that
         reason, the Commission maintains that there are reasonable grounds for considering that Arkema France was required to follow
         the policy defined by its parent company and was therefore unable to act autonomously. The Commission therefore concludes
         that it may be presumed that the applicant exercised decisive influence over Arkema France, which is borne out by the additional
         indicia which it sets out (recitals 384 and 386 to the contested decision). 
      
      17      As regards the calculation of the amounts of the fines imposed on, in particular, Arkema France and the applicant, the Commission
         relied on the Guidelines on the method of setting fines imposed pursuant to Article 23(2)(a) of Regulation No 1/2003 (OJ 2006
         C 210, p. 2; ‘the Guidelines’) (recital 498 to the contested decision). 
      
      18      First of all, the Commission states that, in order to determine the basic amount of the fine imposed on Arkema France, an
         amount corresponding to 19% of the value of the sales of the products affected by the cartel in question should be taken into
         account. First, since Arkema France participated in the infringement for at least four years and eight months, the Commission
         considers that that amount should be multiplied by five in order to take account of the duration of the infringement. Second,
         in order to deter the undertakings concerned, and in particular Arkema France, from participating in horizontal price-fixing
         agreements, the Commission considers it necessary to impose an additional amount corresponding to 19% of the value of those
         sales. The Commission therefore concludes that a fine of EUR 22 700 000 should be imposed, for which Arkema France and the
         applicant are to be jointly and severally liable (recitals 510 and 521 to 523 to the contested decision).
      
      19      Furthermore, as regards the adjustment of the basic amount of the fine, the Commission observes, with respect to aggravating
         circumstances, that on the date of adoption of the contested decision it had already imposed sanctions on Arkema France in
         three decisions in which that undertaking had been held liable for earlier cartel activities. On the one hand, the Commission
         considers, in substance, that Arkema France’s conduct consisting in repeated infringement justifies an increase of 90% of
         the basic amount of the fine. On the other hand, the Commission finds no attenuating circumstance in favour of Arkema France
         or the applicant that would justify a reduction of the fine. In particular, the Commission considers that, when all the facts
         of the case are taken into account, there are ‘no exceptional circumstances’ that could justify granting Arkema France a reduction
         of the fine outside the scope of the 2002 Leniency Notice (recitals 525, 526, 538 and 544 to the contested decision).
      
      20      Next, the Commission states, in substance, that in order to ensure that fines have a sufficiently deterrent effect, and in
         the light of the fact that the applicant has a particularly large turnover beyond the sales of goods to which the infringement
         relates and, last, that that turnover is in absolute terms much larger than the turnover of the other undertakings involved,
         it is appropriate to apply an increase of 70% of the basic amount of the fine (recitals 545, 548 and 559 to the contested
         decision).
      
      21      In addition, the Commission finds that the fines to be imposed on Arkema France and the applicant, in particular, are below
         10% of their respective total turnovers in 2007 and that the fines that can be imposed on them before the application of the
         2002 Leniency Notice come to EUR 43 130 000 for Arkema France and to EUR 38 590 000 for the applicant (recitals 551 and 552
         to the contested decision).
      
      22      Last, the Commission considers that Arkema France must not benefit from any reduction of the fine under the 2002 Leniency
         Notice, since the information which it supplied to the Commission did not constitute significant added value within the meaning
         of point 21 of that notice. Conversely, the Commission considers that Finnish Chemicals supplied it with evidence representing
         significant added value for the purposes of point 21 of that notice and therefore granted that undertaking a reduction of
         50% of the fine that would otherwise have been imposed on it (recitals 580, 588 and 591 to the contested decision).
      
      23      Articles 1 and 2 of the operative part of the contested decision are worded as follows:
      
      ‘Article 1
      The following undertakings infringed Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement by participating, for the periods
         indicated, in a complex of agreements and concerted practices with a view to allocating sales volumes, fixing prices, exchanging
         commercially sensitive information on prices and sales volumes and monitoring the execution of the anti-competitive arrangements
         for sodium chlorate in the EEA market:
      
      (a)      [EKA], from 21 September 1994 until 9 February 2000;
      (b)      Akzo Nobel …, from 21 September 1994 until 9 February 2000;
      (c)      Finnish Chemicals …, from 21 September 1994 until 9 February 2000;
      (d)      [ELSA], from 13 February 1997 until 9 February 2000;
      (e)      Arkema France …, from 17 May 1995 until 9 February 2000;
      (f)      [the applicant], from 17 May 1995 until 9 February 2000;
      (g)      Aragonesas …, from 16 December 1996 until 9 February 2000;
      (h)      Uralita …, from 16 December 1996 until 9 February 2000.
      Article 2
      For the infringement referred to in Article 1, the following fines are imposed:
      (a)      EKA … and Akzo Nobel …, jointly and severally, EUR 0;
      (b)      Finnish Chemicals …: EUR 10 150 000, of which jointly and severally with [ELSA] (in liquidation): EUR 50 900;
      (c)      Arkema France … and [the applicant], jointly and severally: EUR 22 700 000;
      (d)      Arkema France …: EUR 20 430 000;
      (e)      [the applicant ]: EUR 15 890 000; 
      (f)      Aragonesas … and Uralita …, jointly and severally: EUR 9 900 000.
      …’
      24      In Article 3 of the operative part of the contested decision, the Commission orders the undertakings referred to in Article
         1 of that decision, first, to bring an immediate end to the infringement, in so far as they have not already done so, and,
         second, to refrain from repeating any act or conduct described in Article 1 and from any act or conduct having the same or
         similar object or effect.
      
      25      Article 4 of the operative part of the contested decision lists the addressees of the contested decision, which are the undertakings
         referred to in Article 1 of that decision.
      
       Procedure and forms of order sought
      26      By application lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 1 August 2008, the applicant brought the present action.
      
      27      Upon hearing the report of the Judge-Rapporteur, the Court (Second Chamber) decided to open the oral procedure. The Court
         put certain questions to the applicant and the Commission. It also requested the Commission to produce certain documents.
         With the exception of the transcript of EKA’s oral application for immunity, which the Commission refused to produce, the
         parties responded to those requests within the prescribed period.
      
      28      The parties presented oral argument and answered the  questions put by the Court at the hearing on 2 June 2010.
      
      29      By order of 11 June 2010 in Case T‑299/08 Elf Aquitaine v Commission, not published in the ECR, the Court ordered the Commission to produce the transcript of EKA’s oral application for immunity
         and gave leave for that document to be consulted by the applicant’s lawyers at the Court Registry. The Commission produced
         that document within the prescribed period and the applicant’s lawyers consulted it at the Court Registry. In answer to a
         written question put by the Court, the applicant stated that while it was unable to confirm that that document was identical
         to the document to which it had been given access in the context of the administrative procedure before the Commission, it
         had no reason to doubt that it was the same document.
      
      30      The oral procedure was closed on 16 July 2010.
      
      31      The applicant claims that the Court should:
      
      –        principally, annul, on the basis of Article 230 EC, the contested decision, in so far as it concerns the applicant;
      –        in the alternative, annul or reduce, on the basis of Article 229 EC, the amount of the fines imposed on the applicant in Article
         2(c) and (e) of the contested decision;
      
      –        in any event, order the Commission to pay the costs.
      32      The Commission contends that the Court should:
      
      –        dismiss the action;
      –        order the applicant to pay the costs.
       Law
      1.     The principal claims, seeking annulment in part of the contested decision
      33      In support of its application for annulment of the contested decision in so far as it concerns the applicant, the applicant
         puts forward 10 pleas in law. The first plea alleges breach of the rules governing the imputation of liability for an infringement
         within groups of companies. The second plea alleges breach of six fundamental principles as a result of the imputation to
         the applicant of liability for the unlawful conduct in question. The third plea alleges distortion of the body of indicia
         submitted by the applicant. The fourth plea alleges the existence of contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision.
         The fifth plea alleges breach of the principle of sound administration. The sixth plea alleges breach of the principle of
         legal certainty. The seventh plea alleges misuse of powers. The eighth plea alleges that the imposition of a personal fine
         on the applicant is unfounded. The ninth plea alleges breach of the principles and the rules that governed the calculation
         of the fine imposed jointly and severally on Arkema France and the applicant. The tenth plea alleges breach of the provisions
         of the 2002 Leniency Notice.
      
       First plea, alleging breach of the rules governing the imputation of liability for an infringement within groups of companies
      34      The applicant’s first plea, alleging that the Commission, in the contested decision, breached the rules governing the imputation
         of liability for an infringement within groups of companies, is divided into five parts.
      
       First part, alleging an error of law in the imputation to the applicant of the unlawful conduct in question
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      35      The applicant maintains, in substance, that the Commission erred in law in taking the view, at recital 369 to the contested
         decision, that it was not required to corroborate by specific evidence the presumption that, in substance, a parent company
         that wholly owns its subsidiary exercises decisive influence over that subsidiary (‘the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence’).
      
      36      First, it follows both from a considerable body of case-law and from the Commission’s previous practice when adopting decisions
         that the Commission is required to corroborate the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence by specific indicia showing
         that that influence exists. Those indicia should show either that the parent company was involved in the infringement, or
         that it was aware of the infringement, or that the internal organisation of the group enabled it actually to intervene in
         the commercial policy of its subsidiary. In particular, the applicant contends that for almost 40 years preceding the adoption
         of Decision C(2004) 4876 final of 19 January 2005 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA
         Agreement (Case COMP/E-1/37.773 – MCAA) (OJ 2006 L 353, p. 12; ‘the MCAA decision’) the Commission applied specific indicia
         corroborating the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. The applicant also submits that, at recital 574 to the
         decision of 1 October 2008 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/C.39181
         – Candle waxes) (OJ 2009 C 295, p. 17; ‘the Candle Waxes decision’), the Commission acknowledged that before 2005 it did not
         impute liability for an infringement to a parent company without putting forward specific indicia to corroborate that presumption.
      
      37      Second, the applicant observes that in the decision of 10 December 2003 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and
         Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/E-2/37.587 – Organic peroxides) (OJ 2005 L 110, p. 44; ‘the Organic Peroxides decision’),
         the Commission did not impute liability to the applicant for the infringement found in that decision, as it took the view
         that Arkema France was wholly autonomous on the market.
      
      38      Third, the applicant maintains, in substance, that the obligation for the Commission to put forward additional indicia corroborating
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence in the context of the application of Article 81 EC is supported by the
         case-law on the imputation to the State of a measure adopted by a public undertaking in State aid law. The applicant refers
         in that regard to Case C‑482/99 France v Commission [2002] ECR I‑4397 and Case T‑442/03 SIC v Commission [2008] ECR II‑1161. In the applicant’s submission, in accordance with Article 295 EC, a private shareholder in a group of
         companies cannot, under the principle of equal treatment, be treated less well than a public shareholder.
      
      39      Fourth, the applicant claims that the Commission’s finding, at recital 369 to the contested decision, that it is not required
         to corroborate the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence by adducing additional elements to prove that a parent
         company controls its subsidiary is contrary to the solutions applied in most Member States of the European Union, such as Belgium, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, and also in the United States, whose influence on Community competition
         law cannot be denied. First, in all those States the national competition authorities make use of a body of indicia designed
         to establish that a subsidiary conducts itself autonomously in relation to its parent company. Second, while it is true that
         the Commission is not bound by the solutions applied by the national competition authorities of the Member States, it should
         none the less take them into account, given the mechanisms of reinforced cooperation that govern its relations with those
         authorities within the European competition network.
      
      40      The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      41      First of all, it should be observed that, after setting out, at recitals 369 to 372 to the contested decision, the case-law
         on the imputability of the unlawful conduct of a subsidiary to its parent company, the Commission states the following, at
         recitals 386 and 387 to that decision:
      
      ‘(386) Throughout the period of the infringement, [the applicant] held more than 97% of the shares in [Arkema France]. Given that,
         under these circumstances, there are reasonable grounds for considering that the subsidiary will have to follow the policy
         laid down by its parent company (and thus not act autonomously) and that the parent company will encounter no obstacles in
         setting such policy for its subsidiary, it can be presumed that [the applicant] exercised decisive influence over [Arkema
         France]. In addition, there are other elements which confirm the presumption that [the applicant] did in fact exercise decisive
         influence. To begin with, the members of the Conseil d’Administration (Board of Directors) of [Arkema France] were all appointed by [the applicant]. Furthermore, between 1994 and 1999 Mr [P.]
         was a member of the general management board of [Arkema France] and of [the applicant] and a member of the board of directors
         of [Arkema France]. The same applies for Mr [I.], who was a member of the board of directors of [Arkema France] between 1994
         and 1998 and of [the applicant’s] general management board between 1994 and 1997. Likewise, Mr [W.] sat on [Arkema France’s]
         board of directors between 1994 and 1999 and was appointed to [the applicant’s] general management board in 1999. Furthermore,
         a number of other individuals, such as Mr [D.] (1994-2000) and Mr [R.] (1994-1997), were at the same time members of the board
         of directors of [Arkema France] and of [the applicant]. Given these various overlaps of personnel both directing and overseeing
         [Arkema France’s] business, and which (as regards the directors) had been appointed and – it must be assumed – could have
         been removed by [the applicant], the latter was clearly informed of all decisions to be taken by [Arkema France] and could
         influence them at any time. There was also no other significant shareholder which could have exerted an influence on the commercial
         policy to be followed by the subsidiary.
      
      (387) Given the presumption following from [the applicant’s] shareholding in [Arkema France] throughout the infringement (more than
         97%) and further taking into account the organisation links, the Commission considers that [the applicant] exercised decisive
         influence over [Arkema France].’
      
      42      Furthermore, at recitals 396 to 415 to the contested decision, the Commission rejects the arguments which Arkema France and
         the applicant raised in their observations in response to the statement of objections and by which they sought to challenge
         the imputation to the applicant of liability for the infringement in question.
      
      43      It therefore follows from the grounds of the contested decision set out at paragraphs 41 and 42 above that the Commission
         imputed liability for the infringement in question to the applicant on the basis of the presumption that a parent company
         which owns more than 97% of the shares of its subsidiary exercises decisive influence over the subsidiary. The Commission
         also considered that that presumption was corroborated by additional indicia which it had set out in the contested decision
         and also that the arguments put forward by Arkema France and the applicant in the observations in response to the statement
         of objections did not suffice to rebut that presumption.
      
      44      The Court must therefore consider whether, as the applicant maintains, the Commission erred in law in finding that the fact
         that the applicant held more than 97% of Arkema France’s shares was in itself sufficient for liability for the infringement
         in question to be imputed to it.
      
      45      In Case C‑97/08 P Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission [2009] ECR I‑8237, paragraph 54, the Court of Justice observed that Community competition law referred to the activities of
         undertakings (Joined Cases C‑204/00 P, C‑205/00 P, C‑211/00 P, C‑213/00 P, C‑217/00 P and C‑219/00 P Aalborg Portland and Others v Commission [2004] ECR I‑123, paragraph 59) and that the concept of undertaking covered any entity engaged in an economic activity, regardless
         of its legal status and the way in which it is financed (Joined Cases C‑189/02 P, C‑202/02 P, C‑205/02 P to C‑208/02 P and
         C‑213/02 P Dansk Rørindustri and Others v Commission [2005] ECR I‑5425, paragraph 112; Case C‑222/04 Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and Others [2006] ECR I‑289, paragraph 107; and Case C‑205/03 P FENIN v Commission [2006] ECR I‑6295, paragraph 25).
      
      46      The Court of Justice has also stated that the concept of an undertaking, in the same context, must be understood as designating
         an economic unit even if in law that economic unit consists of several persons, natural or legal (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 55 and the case-law cited).
      
      47      When such an economic entity infringes the competition rules, it falls, according to the principle of personal responsibility,
         to that entity to answer for that infringement (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 56 and the case-law cited).
      
      48      The infringement of competition law must be imputed unequivocally to a legal person on whom fines may be imposed and the statement
         of objections must be addressed to that person. It is also necessary that the statement of objections indicate in which capacity
         a legal person is called on to answer the allegations (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 57 and the case-law cited).
      
      49      It is clear from settled case-law that the conduct of a subsidiary may be imputed to the parent company in particular where,
         although having a separate legal personality, that subsidiary does not decide independently upon its own conduct on the market,
         but carries out, in all material respects, the instructions given to it by the parent company, having regard in particular
         to the economic, organisational and legal links between those two legal entities (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 58 and the case-law cited).
      
      50      That is the case because, in such a situation, the parent company and its subsidiary form a single economic unit and therefore
         form a single undertaking for the purposes of the case-law mentioned at paragraphs 45 and 46 above. Thus, the fact that a
         parent company and its subsidiary constitute a single undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC enables the Commission
         to address a decision imposing fines to the parent company, without having to establish the personal involvement of the latter
         in the infringement (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 59 and the case-law cited).
      
      51      In the specific case where a parent company has a 100% shareholding in a subsidiary which has infringed the competition rules,
         first, the parent company can exercise a decisive influence over the conduct of the subsidiary and, second, there is a rebuttable
         presumption that the parent company does in fact exercise a decisive influence over the conduct of its subsidiary (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 60 and the case-law cited).
      
      52      In those circumstances, it is sufficient for the Commission to prove that the subsidiary is wholly owned by the parent company
         in order to presume that the parent exercises a decisive influence over the commercial policy of the subsidiary. The Commission
         will then be able to regard the parent company as jointly and severally liable for the payment of the fine imposed on its
         subsidiary, unless the parent company, which has the burden of rebutting that presumption, adduces sufficient evidence to
         show that its subsidiary acts independently on the market (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 61 and the case-law cited).
      
      53      While it is true that the Court of Justice referred in Case C‑286/98 P Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags v Commission [2000] ECR I‑9925, paragraphs 28 and 29, not only to the fact that the parent company owned 100% of the capital of the subsidiary,
         but also to other circumstances, such as the fact that it was not disputed that the parent company exercised influence over
         the commercial policy of its subsidiary or that both companies were jointly represented during the administrative procedure,
         the fact none the less remains that those circumstances were mentioned by the Court of Justice for the sole purpose of identifying
         all the elements on which the General Court had based its reasoning and not to make the application of the presumption subject
         to the production of additional indicia relating to the actual exercise of influence by the parent company (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 62 and the case-law cited).
      
      54      It is clear from all those considerations that where a parent company has a 100% shareholding in its subsidiary there is a
         rebuttable presumption that that parent company exercises a decisive influence over the conduct of its subsidiary (see Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 63 and the case-law cited).
      
      55      It is clear from the case-law of this Court, moreover, that where a parent company holds virtually all the shares in its subsidiary
         there are reasonable grounds for concluding that the subsidiary does not determine its conduct on the market autonomously
         and that it therefore forms, with the parent company, the same undertaking for the purposes of Article 81 EC (see, to that
         effect, Case T‑203/01 Michelin v Commission [2003] ECR II‑4071, paragraph 290 and the case-law cited).
      
      56      In the present case, it must be stated, first, that, as the Commission observed at recital 386 to the contested decision,
         the applicant does not deny that it held more than 97% of Arkema France’s shares at the material time and, more specifically,
         that it held 97.55% of those shares, as stated at recital 13 to the contested decision. Second, although the applicant maintains
         that the fact that it was the sole owner of shares in Arkema France cannot corroborate the presumption of the exercise of
         decisive influence, it puts forward no argument capable of calling in question the Commission’s finding, at recital 396 to
         the contested decision, that the fact that a parent company owns virtually all the shares in its subsidiary can be assimilated
         to holding all that capital, since, in principle, ‘the remaining shareholders will typically have no special minority rights
         but only a financial interest in the business of the subsidiary’. 
      
      57      Consequently, the Commission was correct to presume in the contested decision, in accordance with the case-law set out at
         paragraphs 45 to 55 above, that the applicant exercised decisive influence over Arkema France, on the basis of the finding
         that it held virtually all the shares in that subsidiary. 
      
      58      None of the arguments put forward by the applicant invalidates that conclusion. 
      
      59      First, as regards the arguments that, first, it follows both from the case-law and from the Commission’s practice in previous
         decisions before the adoption of the MCAA decision that the Commission is required to corroborate the presumption of the exercise
         of decisive influence by specific indicia, they must be rejected as unfounded. As is clear from paragraphs 45 to 55 above,
         it was in accordance with established case-law that the Court of Justice observed, in Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, that the Commission was not required to corroborate that presumption by additional indicia. Furthermore,
         even though, as the Commission stated in the Candle Waxes decision, its practice in taking decisions before the adoption of
         the MCAA decision consisted in corroborating the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence by additional indicia,
         such an assertion cannot affect the conclusion, set out at paragraph 57 above, that the Commission was entitled, in the contested
         decision, to rely on the sole fact that the applicant held virtually all the shares in Arkema France to presume that it exercised
         decisive influence over that undertaking. 
      
      60      Second, the argument that the Commission erred in law in imputing liability for the unlawful conduct in question to the applicant,
         when it had not imputed liability in the Organic Peroxides decision, must be rejected as unfounded. In so far as, as is clear
         from paragraphs 45 to 55 above, it was on the basis of a correct interpretation of the concept of undertaking within the meaning
         of Article 81(1) EC that the Commission, in the contested decision, imputed liability for the infringement in question to
         the applicant, the mere fact that the Commission did not impute liability in a previous decision penalising Arkema France
         cannot call in question the legality of the contested decision in that respect. Furthermore, since the Commission is able,
         but under no obligation, to impute liability for the infringement to a parent company (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C‑125/07 P,
         C‑133/07 P, C‑135/07 P and C‑137/07 P Erste Group Bank and Others v Commission [2009] ECR I‑8681, paragraph 82, and Joined Cases T‑259/02 to T‑264/02 and T‑271/02 Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich and Others v Commission [2006] ECR II‑5169, paragraph 331), the mere fact that the Commission did not impute liability in the Organic Peroxides decision
         does not mean that it is required to make the same assessment in a subsequent decision (see, to that effect, Joined Cases
         T‑305/94 to T‑307/94, T‑313/94 to T‑316/94, T‑318/94, T‑325/94, T‑328/94, T‑329/94 and T‑335/94 Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij and Others v Commission [1999] ECR II‑931 (‘PVC II’), paragraph 990).
      
      61      Third, in so far as the applicant claims, in substance, that France v Commission, paragraph 38 above, paragraphs 50 to 52, 55 and 56, and SIC v Commission, paragraph 38 above, paragraphs 94, 95, 98, 99, 101 to 105 and 107, tend to confirm that the Commission is required to adduce
         additional indicia corroborating the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence on which it relies in the context of
         the application of Article 81 EC, that argument must be rejected as ineffective. The paragraphs in question, which dealt with
         the question whether a measure taken by a public undertaking can be imputed to the State and, accordingly, whether such a
         measure can be characterised as State aid within the meaning of Article 87 EC, have no bearing on the conditions of the imputation
         of liability for an infringement of Article 81 EC to a parent company, nor do they preclude the existence of the presumption
         of the exercise of decisive influence in relation to an infringement of Article 81 EC, the lawfulness of which has been expressly
         recognised by the European Union judicature, as is clear from the case‑law set out at paragraphs 45 to 55 above. 
      
      62      Fourth, the argument that, in substance, the case-law in a number of Member States of the European Union and in the United
         States requires that the exercise of decisive influence by the parent company over the subsidiary must be corroborated by
         specific indicia must be rejected as ineffective. Apart from the fact that the case-law of those States is not binding on
         the Commission and does not constitute the relevant legal framework by reference to which the lawfulness of the contested
         decision must be examined, the fact that the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence is not recognised by the case-law
         of those States, even if it were made out, would not in any event mean that it was unlawful in Community law.
      
      63      In the light of the foregoing considerations, the first part must be rejected as unfounded in part and as ineffective in part.
         
      
       Second part, alleging breach of the principles of the legal and economic autonomy of companies 
      –       Arguments of the parties 
      64      The applicant maintains that when the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence is not, as was the case in the Commission’s
         practice in taking decisions before the adoption of the MCAA decision, corroborated by additional indicia confirming that
         the parent company interfered with its subsidiary’s activities on the market affected by the infringement, such a presumption
         is incompatible with the principle of autonomy of legal persons, since it means that the parent company is automatically liable
         for the infringements committed by its subsidiary.
      
      65      First, the applicant claims that it is only by way of duly justified exception to the principle of the economic autonomy of
         legal persons that a parent company can be recognised as coming within the perimeter of the undertaking for the purposes of
         Article 81 EC. In such an exceptional situation, a parent company could then be imputed with liability for the infringement
         committed by its subsidiary and be held jointly and severally liable to pay the fine imposed on the subsidiary, but it could
         not be ordered to pay a fine in its personal capacity.
      
      66      The applicant observes that company law in the Member States of the European Union enshrines the principle that legal persons
         are legally autonomous, and that includes subsidiaries whose shares are wholly owned by their parent company. That principle
         flows from the attributes of legal personality and has the effect that each company has full legal personality and owns its
         own assets and that each company is fully responsible for its own acts, including for the consequences of its economic activities
         on the market. In that regard, the applicant states that the principle of the economic autonomy of a subsidiary, which follows
         from its legal autonomy, has been recognised by the case-law. That principle also constitutes a fundamental element of the
         proper functioning of modern economies. Consequently, the applicant and Arkema France, as distinct legal persons, both have
         their own legal and economic autonomy.
      
      67      Second, the applicant maintains that the principle of the economic autonomy of the subsidiary represents the expression in
         concrete terms of the subsidiary’s use of all the legal attributes of its legal personality. Analysis of the laws of most
         Member States of the European Union shows that the principle of autonomy of legal persons forms part of the fundamental legal
         bases on which their social organisation rests, and derogation from that principle is possible only in exceptional circumstances,
         as may be seen from the national case-law of the various States; and, furthermore, the Commission is required, when it applies
         competition law, not to ignore the case-law of the courts of the Member States of the European Union, as otherwise it will
         jeopardise the necessary convergence of the various systems of competition law within the European and international competition
         networks.
      
      68      The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      69      The applicant maintains, in substance, that by imputing to it liability for the infringement in question, the Commission breached
         the principles according to which companies enjoy legal and economic autonomy. 
      
      70      However, without there being any need to rule on the extent of the principles according to which companies enjoy legal and
         economic autonomy, or even on the existence of the latter of those principles, it is sufficient to state that they cannot
         in any event mean that a company all or virtually all of whose shares are owned by another company necessarily acts autonomously
         on the market merely because it has its own legal personality or its own economic means. Such an assumption would completely
         disregard the numerous possibilities which exist in practice for a parent company holding all or virtually all the shares
         of its subsidiary to influence the conduct of its subsidiary, whether formally or informally. 
      
      71      Accordingly, the alleged principles of legal and economic autonomy on which the applicant relies in the present case have
         not been breached by the Commission. 
      
      72      The arguments which the applicant puts forward in that regard cannot succeed. First, as regards the arguments that the presumption
         of the exercise of decisive influence is contrary to the law applicable in some Member States of the European Union, they
         must be rejected as unfounded, for the same reasons as those set out at paragraph 62 above, namely that the laws of those
         States do not constitute the relevant legal framework by reference to which the lawfulness of the contested decision falls
         to be assessed. Second, in so far as the applicant maintains that by imputing to it liability for the infringement in question
         the Commission breached the company law applicable in the Member States of the European Union and, accordingly, the principle
         of subsidiarity, it must be stated that it is in accordance with Article 81(1) EC that, when an economic entity infringes
         the competition rules, it must answer for that infringement, which the Commission is empowered to condemn pursuant to Article
         23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003. 
      
      73      In the light of the foregoing considerations, the second part of the first plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Third part, alleging an error relating to the fact that the indicia which the Commission applied in the contested decision
         do not corroborate the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      74      The applicant submits, in substance, that the Commission made an error of law and manifest errors of assessment in considering
         that the three additional elements set out at recital 386 to the contested decision (see paragraph 41 above) corroborated
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. In that regard, the applicant maintains, in substance, that the fact
         that it appointed the members of its subsidiary’s board of directors and the fact that five members of Arkema France’s general
         management board or board of directors sat on the applicant’s general management committee or its board of directors do not
         corroborate that presumption.
      
      75      The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      76      According to the case-law set out at paragraphs 52 to 55 above, the Commission is not required to corroborate, by means of
         additional elements, the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence which it is entitled to apply when a parent company
         owns all or virtually all the shares of its subsidiary, but, on the contrary, it is for the applicant, in order to rebut that
         presumption, to adduce sufficient evidence capable of showing that its subsidiary acted autonomously on the market. 
      
      77      Therefore, even on the view that, as the applicant asserts, the Commission was wrong to rely, at recital 386 to the contested
         decision, on indicia that were not capable of corroborating the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, such an
         error would not in any event be of such a kind as to call in question the fact that the Commission was entitled to rely on
         the mere fact that the applicant owned virtually all the shares in its subsidiary to presume that it exercised decisive influence
         on the subsidiary. 
      
      78      Accordingly, the third part must be rejected as ineffective, without there being any need to examine the arguments whereby
         the applicant seeks, in substance, to challenge the relevance of the indicia on which the Commission relied in the contested
         decision in order to corroborate the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence.
      
       Fourth part, alleging that the Commission was wrong to consider that the applicant had not adduced a body of indicia rebutting
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence 
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      79      The applicant maintains, in substance, that the Commission was wrong to consider that it had not submitted a body of consistent
         indicia rebutting the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence and establishing, first, that Arkema France acted
         autonomously on the market and, second, that the applicant did not interfere with its subsidiary’s commercial policy. The
         applicant states that, contrary to the Commission’s assertion, the body of indicia which it adduced was not confined to establishing
         that the applicant had not participated in the cartel or that it was not aware of the cartel.
      
      80      In the first place, the applicant claims that it showed by a body of consistent indicia that Arkema France acted autonomously
         on the market.
      
      81      First, the applicant observes, at the outset, that, as it observed in the context of the first part of the first plea (see
         paragraph 37 above), the Commission recognised that Arkema France enjoyed autonomy on the market in the Organic Peroxides
         decision. The applicant further maintains that, if in its decision of 3 May 2006 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 [EC]
         and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/F/38.620 – Hydrogen peroxide and perborate) (OJ 2006 L 353, p. 54; ‘the Hydrogen
         Peroxide decision’), the Commission at no time attempted to corroborate by any specific element the presumption of the exercise
         of decisive influence, that was because it had then considered that no indicium existed that would support that presumption.
         Last, in so far as sodium chlorate belongs to the same family of products as those referred to in the Organic Peroxides decision
         and the Hydrogen Peroxide decision, and in so far as it was managed within the Elf Aquitaine group in exactly the same way
         as the products to which those two decisions related, the Commission cannot properly claim, in the context of the present
         case, that the applicant interfered with Arkema France’s commercial strategy.
      
      82      Second, the applicant maintains that Arkema France was part of a group characterised by the decentralised management of its
         subsidiaries and that, consequently, the applicant operated at the head of the group only in its capacity as a non-trading
         holding company and had no involvement in the operational management of its subsidiaries. For that reason, the Commission
         ought not to have imputed to the applicant liability for the infringement in question, just as, for the same reason, it had
         not imputed such liability to one of the parent companies penalised in its decision of 20 October 2004 relating to a proceeding
         under Article 81 [EC] (Case COMP/C.38.238 – Raw tobacco – Spain) (OJ 2007 L 102, p. 14; ‘the Raw Tobacco Spain decision’).
      
      83      Third, the applicant maintains that Arkema France always defined its commercial strategy autonomously.
      
      84      Contrary to the Commission’s assertion at paragraph 324 of the statement of objections, and as the Commission recognised at
         the hearing before the hearing officer, the applicant never adopted or approved the activity plan or the activity budget of
         Arkema France specifically linked to sodium chlorate. On the contrary, Arkema France had at the material time all the means
         and the organisational, legal and financial resources necessary in order to define the commercial strategy of the activities
         linked with sodium chlorate and to manage those activities.
      
      85      Furthermore, the applicant puts forward a series of arguments whereby it seeks to establish that Arkema France acted autonomously
         on the market. First of all, Arkema France had full power to enter into contracts without the prior authorisation of the parent
         company, which enabled it to manage its commercial policy in complete autonomy. Next, Arkema France was always free to define
         the range of products or services which it offered on the sodium chlorate market, since the applicant never gave any instructions
         or directions to its subsidiary concerning its production, the prices charged and the outlets of its production. In addition,
         Arkema France enjoyed complete freedom, without any interference on the part of its parent company, to define its sales objectives
         and its overall margins, since none of the applicant’s staff was capable of being involved in that type of decision. The applicant,
         moreover, was never present on the markets, or upstream or downstream of the markets, on which its subsidiary operated. Last,
         Arkema France acted on the sodium chlorate market in its own name and on its own account and not as the applicant’s representative
         or commercial agent.
      
      86      Fourth, in the applicant’s submission, Arkema France enjoyed complete financial autonomy. Such an assertion follows from the
         considerations set out at paragraphs 81 to 85 above and also from the very small scale of its sodium chlorate activity within
         the group at the material time. The applicant adds that the financial control which it exercised over Arkema France was very
         general and could not therefore apply to the activity related to sodium chlorate.
      
      87      Fifth, the applicant maintains that Arkema France did not inform it about its activity on the market and that the mere fact
         that it submitted its accounts to the applicant remained strictly within the limits of the obligations of a holding company
         by reference to the applicable accounting rules and the rules on financial regulation. Accordingly, the submission of the
         accounts was very general and did not cover Arkema France’s commercial policy.
      
      88      Sixth, the applicant observes that, in the light of all the considerations set out at paragraphs 81 to 87 above, the Commission
         ought to have found that Arkema France’s activity was not subject to instructions from the parent company. Furthermore, it
         follows both from the case-law and from the Commission’s practice in taking decisions that all the indicia put forward by
         the applicant in order to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence are relevant for the purpose of demonstrating
         that its subsidiary was autonomous. The Commission’s rejection of the indicia which the applicant supplied amounts to a de
         facto denial of that mode of evidence as a means of rebutting that presumption.
      
      89      In the second place, the applicant claims that the Commission was wrong to reject, at recital 370 to the contested decision,
         the probative nature of the fact that it did not participate in the infringement committed by its subsidiary and also of the
         fact that the applicant was unaware of that infringement as a ground for precluding its liability, although the Commission
         expressly acknowledged in the contested decision that the applicant had never been directly or indirectly involved in the
         infringement in question. However, participation in or knowledge of an infringement is accepted as a relevant indicium, by
         the Commission and by the European Union judicature, in the context of the imputation to a parent company of liability for
         that infringement.
      
      90      In the third place, the applicant submits that the Commission was wrong to consider, at recital 403 to the contested decision,
         that the fact that the applicant was not involved on the sodium chlorate market in the EEA or on the markets upstream or downstream
         of that product did not constitute evidence of its independence. Such a position is incompatible with the case-law established
         in the judgment of 12 September 2007 in Case T‑30/05 Prym and Prym Consumer v Commission, not published in the ECR.
      
      91      The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      92      The applicant maintains, in substance, that it submitted a body of indicia showing that Arkema France acted autonomously on
         the sodium chlorate market and that the applicant did not interfere with its subsidiary’s commercial policy.
      
      93      It must be borne in mind that, first, as follows from the case-law referred to in particular at paragraphs 52 to 55 above,
         when the Commission relies on the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence in order to impute liability for an infringement
         to a parent company, it is for the parent company to rebut that presumption by adducing sufficient evidence capable of demonstrating
         that its subsidiary acts autonomously on the market. Second, in order to establish that its subsidiary acts autonomously on
         the market and therefore to rebut that presumption, the parent company must submit any element relating to the organisational,
         economic and legal links between itself and its subsidiary that is of such a kind as to demonstrate that the two undertakings
         do not form a single economic entity.
      
      94      In the present case, the Court must therefore examine whether the Commission was entitled to consider that the elements of
         the body of indicia which the applicant submitted did not serve to establish that Arkema France acted autonomously on the
         market and to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. 
      
      95      First, as regards the applicant’s argument that the position adopted by the Commission in the Organic Peroxides decision and
         in the Hydrogen Peroxide decision shows that Arkema France acted autonomously on the market, that argument must be rejected
         as unfounded. First of all, it should be observed that the applicant misinterprets those decisions, since the Commission did
         not conclude that Arkema France acted autonomously, either, in particular, on the sodium chlorate market or, generally, on
         the other product markets on which it was active. It follows from Article 1 of the Organic Peroxides decision, in particular,
         that the Commission merely imposed a penalty on Arkema France (formerly Atofina), without ruling on whether liability for
         that infringement should be imputed to the applicant. Furthermore, it must be held that, in the Hydrogen Peroxide decision,
         the Commission concluded in substance, notably at recital 427 to that decision, that liability for the infringement at issue
         in that decision should be imputed to the applicant. Accordingly, neither of those decisions permits the conclusion that the
         Commission considered, in circumstances similar to those of the present case, that Arkema France acted autonomously on the
         market. 
      
      96      Furthermore, in so far as, as stated at paragraph 60 above, the Commission is able, but is under no obligation, to impute
         liability for an infringement to a parent company and in so far as it was on the basis of a correct interpretation of Article 81 EC
         that, in the present case, it imputed liability for the infringement in question to the applicant, any finding that the Commission,
         in previous cases, either considered that there was no need to impute such liability, or corroborated the presumption of the
         exercise of decisive influence by additional indicia, does not in any event permit the conclusion that in the present case
         it erred in law by imputing liability for the infringement in question to the applicant. 
      
      97      Second, as regards the applicant’s arguments that Arkema France’s autonomy is borne out by the decentralised management of
         the Elf Aquitaine group and by the fact that the applicant was merely a ‘non-trading holding company’ which did not interfere
         with the operational management of its subsidiaries and, accordingly, that the Commission ought not to have imputed to it
         liability for the infringement, as it also refrained from doing, with respect to a different parent company, in the Raw Tobacco
         Spain decision, they must also be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      98      First of all, it should be observed, on the one hand, that the assertion that the applicant is a ‘non-trading holding company’
         is not supported by any specific element capable of establishing that the applicant did not exercise any decisive influence
         over its subsidiary. As may be seen from the case-law set out at paragraph 60 above, on the other hand, the fact that the
         Commission did not impute liability to a parent company for an infringement in the Raw Tobacco Spain decision does not, in
         any event, affect the finding that the conditions for imputation of such liability in the contested decision were satisfied.
         
      
      99      Furthermore, and in any event, in the context of a group of companies a holding company’s task is to consolidate the shareholdings
         in various companies and its function is to ensure unity of direction. It cannot therefore be precluded that the applicant
         exercised decisive influence over the conduct of its subsidiary by coordinating, in particular, financial investments within
         the Elf Aquitaine group. In addition, the internal allocation of the applicant’s different activities, having characteristics
         of decentralised management, between different divisions or departments is a normal phenomenon within groups of companies
         such as that headed by the applicant. Accordingly, that argument does not in any way rebut the presumption that the applicant
         and Arkema France constituted a single undertaking for the purposes of Article 81 EC.
      
      100    Third, in so far as the applicant maintains, first, that Arkema France always defined its commercial strategy on the sodium
         chlorate market autonomously, since the applicant never adopted or approved Arkema France’s activity plan and activity budget
         specifically linked to that product and since Arkema France enjoyed, in substance, the capacity to act autonomously on the
         market and, second, that Arkema France had complete financial autonomy, since the applicant’s control of its subsidiary was
         very general, those arguments must also be rejected as unfounded.
      
      101    In effect, apart from the fact that the applicant’s arguments are not supported by any specific element, it must be observed
         first of all that the fact that the applicant never adopted or approved Arkema France’s activity plan and activity budget
         does not prove that it could not modify them, or reject them, or control their application. 
      
      102    Nor can it be precluded that the applicant exercised decisive influence over its subsidiary by coordinating, in particular,
         financial investments within the Elf Aquitaine group.
      
      103    Last, although, as the applicant maintained, moreover, in its response to the statement of objections (see page 71 of that
         response) and as is apparent from recital 392 to the contested decision, the applicant controlled the most important commitments
         of its subsidiary, that circumstance merely reinforces the Commission’s conclusion that the subsidiary was not autonomous
         by reference to the applicant.
      
      104    Fourth, the applicant’s argument that Arkema France did not inform it about its activity on the market and submitted its accounts
         to the applicant only in very general terms, in accordance with French law and its statutes, must be rejected as unfounded.
         In that regard, apart from the fact that it must be observed that that argument is not supported by any specific element,
         the applicant’s recognition, as set out at paragraph 103 above, of the fact that it controlled its subsidiary’s most important
         commitments tends to contradict that argument. 
      
      105    Fifth, in so far as the applicant claims that it never participated in the infringement, that it was never aware of the infringement
         and that it was not involved either upstream or downstream of the sodium chlorate market, just as it was not involved in that
         market, which was of minor importance to the applicant, it must be held that such elements are not capable of establishing
         Arkema France’s autonomy. First of all, it must be borne in mind that, in accordance with the case-law, it is not a relationship
         between the parent company and its subsidiary in which the parent company instigates the infringement or, a fortiori, the
         parent company’s involvement in the infringement, but the fact that they constitute a single undertaking that enables the
         Commission to address the decision imposing fines to the parent company of a group of companies (Michelin v Commission, paragraph 55 above, paragraph 290). Nor can any inference be drawn from the fact that the applicant and Arkema France operated
         on separate markets or that the sodium chlorate market was of minor importance to the applicant. It must be held that, in
         a group such as that headed by the applicant, the allocation of tasks is a normal phenomenon which does not serve to rebut
         the presumption that the applicant and Arkema France constituted a single undertaking for the purposes of Article 81 EC. Accordingly,
         those arguments must be rejected as ineffective.
      
      106    Sixth, as regards the applicant’s argument that the Commission de facto denied it the right to rebut the presumption of the
         exercise of decisive influence by taking the view that the indicia which it had submitted did not serve to establish Arkema
         France’s autonomy, it must be rejected as unfounded. In effect, in the contested decision, not only did the Commission not
         contest the applicant’s right to submit indicia to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence but it was
         after examining the body of indicia which the applicant had submitted to the Commission that the latter correctly concluded,
         as may be seen from the findings set out at paragraphs 95 to 105 above, that the elements of that body of indicia did not
         serve to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. 
      
      107    In the light of all the foregoing considerations, it must be concluded that the Commission was correct to consider that the
         applicant had not adduced evidence capable of rebutting the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. 
      
      108    Accordingly, the fourth part of the first plea must be rejected as unfounded in part and as ineffective in part. 
      
       Fifth part, alleging transformation of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence into an irrebuttable presumption
      –       Arguments of the parties
      109    The applicant maintains that, in rejecting the body of indicia which the applicant had submitted to it, the Commission transformed
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, which should be a rebuttable presumption, into an irrebuttable presumption.
      
      110    In the first place, the applicant claims that the transformation of a rebuttable presumption into an irrebuttable presumption
         constitutes a breach of the principle of the presumption of innocence. First of all, that transformation constitutes a probatio diabolica, that is to say, a proof that is impossible to challenge and therefore a proof that is inadmissible in the light of the case-law.
         Next, at the hearing the applicant asserted that such a presumption was contrary to the principle of the presumption of innocence
         enshrined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950
         (‘the ECHR’), as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights in the Salabiaku v. France judgment of 7 October 1988, Series A no. 141‑A, § 28, and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed
         in Nice on 7 December 2000 (OJ 2000 C 364, p. 1), which, pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 6(1) TEU, has the same
         legal value as the Treaties. Last, in answer to the questions put by the Court at the hearing, the applicant stated that it
         considered that Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, was incompatible with the abovementioned provisions.
      
      111    In the second place, the applicant maintains that the Commission made the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence
         which it established in the contested decision impossible to rebut.
      
      112    First, it follows from recitals 396 and 412 to the contested decision that the Commission itself considers that the rebuttal
         of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence is in practice virtually impossible to effect, since the Commission
         states at those recitals that ‘what is presumed is true in almost all cases’. 
      
      113    Second, the Commission refused to take into consideration the indicia which the applicant had put forward in order to rebut
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, although where such indicia are invoked by the Commission they enable
         it to corroborate that presumption.
      
      114    Third, it follows from recital 401, in fine, to the contested decision that the Commission wrongly considers that a parent company must be held liable for an infringement
         whether or not it has interfered with its subsidiary’s activity, whether or not it has allowed the subsidiary to act freely,
         and whether or not it was aware of the infringements committed by that subsidiary.
      
      115    Fourth, the Commission failed to draw the appropriate inferences from its error of interpretation, which it acknowledged at
         the hearing before the hearing officer, of the observations formulated by Arkema France on 18 October 2004, in answer to the
         request for information which the Commission had sent to it on 10 September 2004 and in which it had confused Elf Atochem
         and the applicant.
      
      116    Fifth, the Commission relied in the contested decision not on specific elements showing that the applicant did in fact exercise
         decisive influence over Arkema France’s commercial management, but on mere unsubstantiated assertions, which constitute other
         presumptions and assumptions which the Commission never verified.
      
      117    Sixth, it should be inferred from the rejection of all the elements in the body of indicia submitted by the applicant that
         the Commission requires negative documentary evidence that a parent company did not interfere with its subsidiary’s commercial
         policy.
      
      118    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      119    The applicant claims, in substance, that in rejecting the indicia which it had supplied to it, the Commission transformed
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence into an irrebuttable presumption. In the applicant’s submission, such
         a presumption is unlawful under the ECHR and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and also under the case-law
         of the European Union judicature and the European Court of Human Rights.
      
      120    In that regard, it should be observed that, in accordance with the case-law cited at paragraph 52 above, the applicant is
         not required to adduce evidence that it did not interfere in the management of its subsidiary, but solely to adduce sufficient
         evidence to show that its subsidiary acted independently on the market in question. 
      
      121    The fact that the applicant did not, in the present case, adduce evidence capable of rebutting the presumption of the exercise
         of decisive evidence, as is clear from the examination of the fourth part of the first plea (see paragraphs 95 to 106 above),
         does not mean that that presumption cannot be rebutted in any circumstances.
      
      122    For that reason, first, the applicant’s argument set out at paragraph 110 above, that, in substance, the presumption of the
         exercise of decisive influence which the Commission established in the contested decision and the lawfulness of which was
         recognised by the Court of Justice in Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, is contrary to the principle of the presumption of innocence as recognised in the Charter of Fundamental
         Rights of the European Union and the ECHR, and as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union
         judicature, must be rejected as ineffective. Second, the arguments set out at paragraphs 111 to 117 above, that, in substance,
         the Commission was wrong to consider that the indicia which the applicant had supplied had not established that the applicant
         did not exercise decisive influence over Arkema France, must be rejected as unfounded, since, as stated in the context of
         the examination of the fourth part of the first plea (see paragraphs 95 to 106 above), it was because none of the indicia
         submitted by the applicant permitted the conclusion, in the present case, that Arkema France acted autonomously on the market
         that the Commission, in the contested decision, imputed liability for the infringement to the applicant.
      
      123    Accordingly, the fifth part of the first plea must be rejected as unfounded in part and as ineffective in part and, consequently,
         the first plea must be rejected in its entirety. 
      
       Second plea, alleging breach of six fundamental principles, resulting from the imputation to the applicant of the unlawful
            conduct in question 
      124    The applicant maintains, in substance, that the Commission breached six fundamental principles by imputing to it the unlawful
         conduct of Arkema France. The present plea is therefore divided into six parts. 
      
       First part, alleging breach of the applicant’s rights of defence
      –       Arguments of the parties
      125    The applicant maintains, in substance, that its rights of defence were breached before and after the statement of objections
         was notified to it.
      
      126    In the first place, the applicant claims that the Commission’s assessment at recital 406 to the contested decision that it
         was not required to apply any particular diligence towards the applicant before issuing the statement of objections is invalidated
         by the case-law as established in Case C‑194/99 P Thyssen Stahl v Commission [2003] ECR I‑10921 and Case C‑105/04 P Nederlandse Federatieve Vereniging voor de Groothandel op Elektrotechnisch Gebied v Commission [2006] ECR I‑8725. The applicant maintains that the Commission ought to have made use of its investigative powers, before
         issuing the statement of objections, in order to gather indicia corroborating the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence, instead of relying solely on the indicia supplied by Arkema France. At the hearing the applicant stated that such
         an obligation also follows from Case T‑99/04 AC-Treuhand v Commission [2008] ECR II‑1501 and from the Commission’s Best Practices on the conduct of proceedings concerning Articles 101 TFEU and
         102 TFEU (‘the “Best Practices” code’), which at the date of the hearing was available on the Commission’s internet site.
      
      127    Next, in the absence of measures of investigation undertaken against it, the applicant was deprived of its right to explain,
         before the adoption of the statement of objections, the way in which the Elf Aquitaine group functioned, its relationship
         with Arkema France and its purely passive role in the management of its sodium chlorate activity. The applicant was also unable
         to check the veracity of the information provided by Arkema France and for which that undertaking had requested confidential
         treatment, such as, for example, the applicant’s turnover which Arkema France had supplied to the Commission in answer to
         a request for information.
      
      128    Furthermore, since the investigation related to the period following Arkema France’s departure from the Elf Aquitaine group,
         on 18 May 2006, the Commission could not obtain complete answers to the questions which it had put to Arkema France. The applicant
         therefore lost the opportunity, first, to secure a modification of the objections raised against it by demonstrating, at the
         investigation stage, that the infringement by Arkema France could not be imputed to it and, second, to avoid the imposition
         of two separate fines. The applicant added at the hearing that in so far as the statement of objections was received by it
         at a time when Arkema France was no longer part of the Elf Aquitaine group and when four years had elapsed since the beginning
         of the investigation, it no longer had evidence enabling it to defend itself effectively at the date of notification of the
         statement of objections.
      
      129    Last, the alteration of the applicant’s ability to defend itself was aggravated by the incoherent and contradictory nature
         of the position adopted by the Commission in the MCAA decision, in Decision C(2006) 2098 final of 31 May 2006 relating to
         a proceeding under Article 81 [EC] and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/F/38.645 – Methacrylates) (OJ 2006 L 322,
         p. 20; ‘the Methacrylates decision), in the Hydrogen Peroxide decision and in the contested decision.
      
      130    Furthermore, at the hearing the applicant observed, first, that the Court of Justice had recognised the penal nature of fines
         in competition matters in Case C‑199/92 P Hüls v Commission [1999] ECR I‑4287; the judgment of 22 May 2008 in Case C‑266/06 P Evonik Degussa v Commission and Council, not published in the ECR; and Case C‑45/08 Spector Photo Group and Van Raemdonck [2009] ECR I‑12073, and, second, that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which entered into force on
         1 December 2009, was of immediate application in disputes pending before this Court. In that connection, the applicant maintains
         that its fundamental rights have been breached, since the Commission wrongly considered that ‘it is the undertaking, and not
         each of the legal persons taken separately, that must benefit from fundamental rights’.
      
      131    In the second place, the applicant maintains that it follows from recitals 402 to 406 to the contested decision that the Commission,
         in breach of the requirements laid down in the case-law, failed to examine carefully all the elements of the body of indicia
         which it had submitted in order to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, since it merely rejected those
         elements by unsubstantiated assertions, assumptions and purely theoretical presumptions, which do not correspond to the reality
         of the operation of the Elf Aquitaine group at the material time.
      
      132    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      133    The applicant claims that the Commission breached its rights of defence, first, by failing to carry out any measure of investigation
         against the applicant before notifying it of the statement of objections and, second, by failing to examine carefully, after
         notification of the statement of objections, all the elements of the body of indicia which the applicant had submitted in
         order to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence.
      
      134    According to consistent case-law, respect for the rights of the defence requires that the undertaking concerned must have
         been afforded the opportunity, during the administrative procedure, to make known its views on the truth and relevance of
         the facts and circumstances alleged and on the documents used by the Commission to support its claim that there has been an
         infringement of the Treaty (Joined Cases 100/80 to 103/80 Musique Diffusion française and Others v Commission [1983] ECR 1825, paragraph 10, and Case C‑310/93 P BPB Industries and British Gypsum v Commission [1995] ECR I‑865, paragraph 21). 
      
      135    Like Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles [81 EC] and [82 EC] (OJ, English
         Special Edition 1959‑1962, p. 87), which was repealed and replaced by Regulation No 1/2003, the latter regulation provides,
         in Article 27(1), that the parties are to be sent a statement of objections which must set forth clearly all the essential
         facts upon which the Commission is relying at that stage of the procedure (Aalborg Portland and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 67), to enable those concerned to be aware of the conduct in which the Commission alleges
         they have been engaged and to put forward their defence before the Commission adopts a final decision. That statement of objections
         constitutes the procedural safeguard applying the fundamental principle of Community law which requires observance of the
         rights of the defence in all proceedings (Joined Cases C‑322/07 P, C‑327/07 P and C‑338/07 P Papierfabrik August Koehler and Others v Commission [2009] ECR I‑7191, paragraph 35).
      
      136    That principle requires, in particular, that the statement of objections which the Commission sends to an undertaking on which
         it envisages imposing a penalty for an infringement of the competition rules contain the essential elements used against it,
         such as the facts, the characterisation of those facts and the evidence on which the Commission relies, so that the undertaking
         may submit its arguments effectively in the administrative procedure brought against it (see Papierfabrik August Koehler and Others v Commission, paragraph 135 above, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).
      
      137    In particular, the statement of objections must specify unequivocally the legal person on whom fines may be imposed, it must
         be addressed to that person and it must indicate in what capacity that person is called upon to answer the allegations (see,
         to that effect, Papierfabrik August Koehler and Others v Commission, paragraph 135 above, paragraphs 37 and 38).
      
      138    It is by the statement of objections that the undertaking concerned is informed of all the essential elements on which the
         Commission is relying at that stage of the procedure. Consequently, it is only after notification of the statement of objections
         that the undertaking is able to rely in full on its rights of defence (see Case C‑407/04 P Dalmine v Commission [2007] ECR I‑829, paragraph 59 and the case‑law cited, and AC‑Treuhand v Commission, paragraph 126 above, paragraph 48). 
      
      139    As regards the applicant’s first complaint, namely that the Commission breached its rights of defence by failing to carry
         out any measure of investigation against it before the statement of objections was notified to it, it must be observed that,
         while the parties have not provided the Court with that statement of objections, it none the less follows unambiguously from
         the applicant’s observations of 27 September 2007 in response to that statement of objections that the Commission informed
         the applicant that it intended to impute Arkema France’s unlawful conduct to the applicant on the basis of the presumption
         of the exercise of decisive influence. The applicant was therefore aware of the objections raised against it in the statement
         of objections and was in a position to respond, and did in fact respond in writing, to the statement of objections. Nor does
         the applicant deny that it was in a position to present, and did in fact present, its observations on the statement of objections
         at the hearing before the hearing officer. 
      
      140    The fact that the Commission did not carry out any measure of investigation against the applicant before notifying it of the
         statement of objections, or again, as the applicant observes, moreover, that in previous decisions the Commission did or did
         not impute to the applicant liability for other infringements committed by its subsidiary, cannot affect the conclusion that
         the Commission was entitled to inform the applicant for the first time of the objections against it in the statement of objections.
         The applicant was given the opportunity during the administrative procedure to put forward its views on the reality and relevance
         of the facts and circumstances alleged by the Commission in its statement of objections, both in its observations in response
         to the statement of objections and at the hearing before the hearing officer. 
      
      141    The Commission therefore did not breach the applicant’s rights of defence by not undertaking any measure of investigation
         against it before notifying it of the statement of objections.
      
      142    The other arguments put forward by the applicant do not invalidate that conclusion.
      
      143    First, the argument raised by the applicant at the hearing, that the Commission breached its fundamental rights as recognised
         by the Community case-law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, by wrongly considering that it was
         the undertaking, and not each of the legal persons taken individually, that should benefit from those fundamental rights,
         must be rejected as unfounded. Apart from the fact that it does not follow from either the contested decision or its written
         pleadings that the Commission took such a view, it must be stated that, as is clear from recital 66 to the contested decision
         and Article 4 of the operative part of that decision, it was to the applicant and to Arkema France, each taken separately,
         that the Commission addressed the statement of objections and the contested decision, so that, both during and after the administrative
         procedure, it respected the rights of defence of each of those two companies. 
      
      144    Second, the argument that it follows from the case-law cited at paragraph 126 above that the Commission was wrong to consider
         in the present case that it was not required to act with particular diligence with respect to the applicant must also be rejected
         as unfounded. 
      
      145    First of all, in Thyssen Stahl v Commission, paragraph 126 above, paragraph 31, the Court of Justice held that the Commission must be found to have breached an undertaking’s
         rights of defence where it is possible that the outcome of the administrative procedure might have been different as a result
         of an error committed by the Commission. The Court of Justice also held in the same paragraph that an undertaking establishes
         that there had been such a breach where it adequately demonstrates, not that the Commission’s decision would have been different
         in content, but rather that it would have been better able to ensure its defence had there been no error, for example because
         it would have been able to use for its defence documents to which it had been denied access during the administrative procedure.
         In the present case, however, it must be held that the applicant has not established that the fact that the Commission did
         not address any measure of investigation to it before notifying it of the statement of objections might have led the Commission
         to arrive at a different result in the contested decision. Contrary to the applicant’s contention, it had the opportunity
         to make known, on the basis of the statement of objections, its observations on the mode of functioning of the Elf Aquitaine
         group, its relationship with Arkema France and what it claims to have been its purely passive role in the management of its
         activity relating to sodium chlorate. 
      
      146    Next, in Nederlandse Federatieve Vereniging voor de Groothandel op Elektrotechnisch Gebied v Commission, paragraph 126 above, paragraphs 48 to 50 and 56, the Court of Justice held, in particular, that it was essential to prevent
         the rights of the defence from being irremediably compromised on account of the excessive duration of the investigation phase
         and to ensure that that phase did not impede the establishment of evidence designed to refute the existence of conduct susceptible
         of rendering the undertakings concerned liable. In the present case, it must be observed that the applicant has put forward
         no specific element establishing that the investigation phase preceding the adoption of the contested decision was excessively
         long and thus impeded the applicant from supplying indicia capable of rebutting the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence.
      
      147    Last, in AC-Treuhand v Commission, paragraph 126 above, paragraph 56, this Court considered that when the first measure is taken in respect of an undertaking,
         including in requests for information under Article 11 of Regulation No 17, the Commission is required to inform the undertaking
         concerned, inter alia, of the subject-matter and purpose of the investigation. At paragraph 58 of that judgment, the Court
         also observed that it followed from the case-law that it is only where the irregularity committed by the Commission was capable
         of actually compromising the rights of defence of the undertaking involved in the administrative procedure that such an irregularity
         could lead to the annulment of the Commission’s final decision. In the present case, apart from the fact that it cannot be
         inferred from that judgment that the Commission is required, as the applicant asserts, to take measures of investigation with
         respect to an undertaking before issuing a statement of objections where it considers that it otherwise has information that
         justifies issuing the statement of objections, it must be held that the applicant has put forward no specific element establishing
         that it was thereby deprived of the opportunity to adduce evidence that it did not exercise decisive influence over Arkema
         France. 
      
      148    Third, as regards the argument that the Commission breached its ‘Best Practices’ code by not addressing any investigative
         measure to the applicant, it must be held that that code, which, in accordance with paragraph 5 thereof, is to apply only
         to ongoing and future cases at the time of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, was adopted after the contested decision and is therefore not applicable to the facts of the present case. Furthermore,
         and in any event, it must be observed that paragraph 14 of that code provides, with reference to AC‑Treuhand v Commission, paragraph 126 above, paragraph 56, that, ‘[a]t the moment of the first investigative measure addressed to them (normally
         a request for information or an inspection), undertakings are informed of the fact that they are subject to a preliminary
         investigation as well as about the subject-matter and purpose of such investigation’. Therefore, without there being any need
         to adjudicate on the legal scope of that code, it must be held, in any event, that it imposes no obligation on the Commission
         to address investigative measures to undertakings before adopting the statement of objections.
      
      149    Accordingly, the applicant’s first complaint must be rejected as unfounded.
      
      150    As regards the applicant’s second complaint, that the Commission breached its rights of defence in so far as it did not carefully
         examine all the elements of the body of indicia which the applicant had submitted in order to rebut the presumption of the
         exercise of decisive influence, it must be held, first, that, as the Commission observes, the applicant does not identify
         any element of fact or of law referred to in the contested decision with respect to which it was unable to provide an explanation
         in its response to the statement of objections. Second, it is appropriate to refer to recitals 397 to 415 to the contested
         decision to find that the Commission answered in a substantiated and exhaustive manner the arguments raised by Arkema France
         and the applicant in their observations in response to the statement of objections. Consequently, the Commission cannot be
         criticised for having breached the applicant’s rights of defence in that regard. 
      
      151    Accordingly, the applicant’s second complaint, and also the first part of the plea in its entirety, must be rejected as unfounded.
         
      
       Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equality of arms
      –       Arguments of the parties
      152    The applicant claims that the Commission breached the principle of equality of arms. That breach is, in the present case,
         the consequence of the fact that, instead of adducing specific elements that would permit different light to be shed on the
         facts of the case as revealed by the body of indicia which the applicant supplied, the Commission merely put forward new assumptions
         and presumptions, although, in accordance with the case-law, the applicant had provided a different plausible explanation
         for the facts from that used by the Commission.
      
      153    At the hearing the applicant further submitted that the fact that the Commission failed to carry out an investigation with
         respect to the applicant entailed a breach of the principle of equality of arms, in so far as it would have been able to ‘keep
         the evidence’ and ‘protect itself against an accusation that it interfered with its subsidiary’.
      
      154    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      155    The applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission breached the principle of equality of arms, in so far as, when it
         had provided a body of indicia constituting a plausible explanation for the fact that Arkema France exercised its activity
         autonomously, it was then for the Commission to adduce specific evidence corroborating the presumption of the exercise of
         decisive influence.
      
      156    It should be borne in mind that the principle of equality of arms, just like, among others, the adversarial principle, is
         no more than a corollary of the very concept of a fair hearing (see, by analogy, Case C‑305/05 Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone and Others [2007] ECR I‑5305, paragraph 31; Case C‑89/08 P Commission v Ireland and Others [2009] ECR I‑11245, paragraph 50; and Case C‑197/09 RX-II M v EMEA [2009] ECR I‑12033, paragraphs 39 and 40). It implies, in particular, that each party must be afforded a reasonable opportunity
         to present his case under conditions that do not place him at a substantial disadvantage vis-à-vis his opponent (see Eur.
         Court HR, Dombo Beheer BV v. the Netherlands, judgment of 27 October 1993, Series A no. 274, § 33; Ernst and Others v. Belgium, no. 33400/96, § 60; and Vezon v. France, no. 66018/01, § 31).
      
      157    In the present case, contrary to the applicant’s contention, the applicant was not placed at a substantial disadvantage vis-à-vis
         the Commission as a result of the Commission’s application of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence on the
         basis of the capital links with Arkema France.
      
      158    Since, as established at paragraph 57 above, the Commission was correct to presume that the applicant exercised decisive influence
         over Arkema France, on the basis of the fact that it held virtually all the shares in that undertaking, and, as is clear from
         the findings set out at paragraphs 139 and 140 above, it was open to the applicant, in its observations in response to the
         statement of objections and at the hearing before the hearing officer, to submit all the elements of law and of fact in order
         to rebut that presumption, the Commission did not breach the principle of equality of arms in the present case. 
      
      159    The argument which the applicant raised at the hearing that the Commission breached the principle of equality of arms in that
         the applicant would, if an investigation had been undertaken against it, have been able to ‘keep the evidence’ that Arkema
         France acted autonomously and thus to ‘protect itself against an accusation that it interfered with its subsidiary’ must be
         rejected as unfounded. It must be borne in mind, first of all, that the applicant, which was the parent company of Arkema
         France when the Commission sent that undertaking a request for information, on 10 September 2004, was able from that date
         to gather any evidence of its subsidiary’s autonomy. Furthermore, the applicant’s argument in that regard is not supported
         by any specific element establishing that evidence that might have been of use to its defence disappeared or that the contested
         decision might have been different if a measure of investigation had been addressed to it before the statement of objections.
         Last, and in any event, that argument does not invalidate the conclusion, set out at paragraph 158 above, that it was open
         to the applicant, in the context of its observations in response to the statement of objections and at the hearing before
         the hearing officer, to submit all the elements of law and of fact that would have served to rebut the presumption of the
         exercise of decisive influence. 
      
      160    The second part of the second plea must therefore be rejected as unfounded.
      
       Third part, alleging breach of the presumption of innocence
      –       Arguments of the parties
      161    The applicant maintains that the Commission breached the presumption of innocence, a fundamental right guaranteed by the EC
         Treaty and by Article 6(2) of the ECHR.
      
      162    In the first place, the applicant observes that, at recitals 409 to 411 to the contested decision, the Commission imposed
         a sanction on the applicant for an infringement of Article 81 EC, on the basis of a presumption which was not supported by
         any specific element and which led the Commission to disregard the evidence to the contrary which the applicant had adduced.
         Such a formal finding of liability is based on mere allusions, which this Court condemned in Joined Cases T‑22/02 and T‑23/02
         Sumitomo Chemical and Sumika Fine Chemicals v Commission [2005] ECR II‑4065, paragraph 106. 
      
      163    First of all, the Commission was required to establish the guilt of, on the one hand, Arkema France and, on the other, the
         applicant, specifically and separately. Next, and in any event, the applicant’s guilt was not established, since its liability
         was established in breach of the rules governing the imputation of liability for an infringement to a parent company and also
         in breach of the applicant’s rights of defence.
      
      164    Last, at the hearing the applicant observed that the failure to undertake an investigation against it shows that the Commission
         acted on the basis of a prejudice. The applicant maintains that the contested decision is based on that prejudice, which ‘endured
         on account of the procedure before the Commission, which [is] wholly unacceptable today in the light of the requirements of
         the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union’, in so far as the final decision is adopted by an institution which
         is at the same time ‘responsible for the investigation, the prosecution and the decision’.
      
      165    In the second place, the applicant contends that, in automatically applying to it the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence, the Commission imposed on it an irrebuttable presumption of guilt, which constitutes a probatio diabolica and is unacceptable. The applicant observes that, according to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, every presumption
         must be confined within reasonable limits which maintain the rights of the defence (see Eur. Court HR, Salabiaku v. France, paragraph 110 above, § 28, and Janosevic v. Sweden, no. 34619/97, § 101). Next, under the Community case-law, any systematic use of presumptions of guilt must be precluded
         and any presumption of guilt must be capable of being rebutted effectively by the person to whom it is applied.
      
      166    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      167    The applicant claims, in substance, that there has been a breach of the presumption of innocence, in so far as the Commission
         imposed a penalty on it for an infringement committed by Arkema France without corroborating the presumption of the exercise
         of decisive influence and without having regard to the body of indicia which it had adduced that was, in the applicant’s submission,
         capable of rebutting that presumption, and also by breaching its rights of defence. 
      
      168    According to the case-law, the presumption of innocence implies that every person accused is presumed to be innocent until
         his guilt has been established according to law. It thus precludes any formal finding and even any allusion to the liability
         of an accused person for a particular infringement in a final decision unless that person has enjoyed all the usual guarantees
         accorded for the exercise of the rights of the defence in the normal course of proceedings resulting in a decision on the
         merits of the case (Case T‑474/04 Pergan Hilfsstoffe für industrielle Prozesse v Commission [2007] ECR II‑4225, paragraph 76).
      
      169    In the present case, it is common ground that the infringement in question was acknowledged by the applicant’s subsidiary.
         Next, as observed at paragraph 57 above, the Commission was correct to presume in the contested decision that the applicant
         was liable for the conduct of its subsidiary on account of the fact that it held more than 97% of the subsidiary’s shares.
         In so far as, as stated at paragraph 107 above, the applicant has not rebutted the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence, the Commission was therefore correct to impute to the applicant liability for the infringement in question.
      
      170    Furthermore, as observed in the context of the examination of the first part of the second plea, alleging breach of the applicant’s
         rights of defence (see paragraphs 139 and 140 above), the applicant was put in a position to make known its point of view,
         during the administrative procedure, on the reality and relevance of the facts and circumstances alleged by the Commission
         in the statement of objections, both in its observations in response to the statement of objections and at the hearing before
         the hearing officer, so that it enjoyed all the usual guarantees accorded for the exercise of the rights of the defence in
         the normal course of proceedings resulting in a decision on the merits of the case. 
      
      171    Last, as stated in the context of the examination of the fifth part of the first plea (see paragraph 121 above), the fact
         that the applicant did not, in the present case, adduce evidence capable of rebutting the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence does not mean that that presumption cannot be rebutted in any circumstances and that, as the applicant also observes,
         the Commission imposed on it an irrebuttable presumption of guilt, which constitutes a probatio diabolica, or that it imposed a penalty on the applicant solely on the basis of a ‘prejudice’ which the applicant did not have the
         opportunity to rebut. 
      
      172    It follows that the Commission did not breach the presumption of innocence by presuming that the applicant exercised decisive
         influence over its subsidiary.
      
      173    Furthermore, in so far as the applicant maintained at the hearing, in substance, that the presumption of innocence, as recognised
         in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, was breached in the present case, since the Commission is an institution
         responsible for ‘the investigation, the prosecution and the decision’, it must be stated that, as the Commission asserted
         orally, that complaint was submitted out of time, since it was formulated for the first time at the hearing stage and since
         it cannot be regarded as amplifying the present plea as submitted in the application, according to which the presumption of
         the exercise of decisive influence on which the Commission relied in the contested decision is contrary to the presumption
         of innocence. This complaint must therefore be rejected as inadmissible, in accordance with Article 48(2) of the Rules of
         Procedure of the General Court. 
      
      174    Accordingly, the third part of the second plea must be rejected as unfounded in part and as inadmissible in part. 
      
       Fourth part, alleging breach of the principle of liability for personal acts and the principle that penalties should be applied
         only to the offender 
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      175    The applicant claims that the Commission breached the principle of personal liability and its corollary, the principle that
         penalties should be applied only to the offender, first, by accepting the existence and the liability of the alleged undertaking
         formed by the applicant and Arkema France and, second, by ordering the applicant to pay, first, a fine imposed on it jointly
         and severally with Arkema France and, second, a fine in the applicant’s personal capacity, when the Commission ought to have
         acknowledged the existence of two separate economic entities in the absence of specific elements capable of corroborating
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. The breach of those principles is confirmed by recitals 313 and 315
         to the contested decision, which refer to the concepts of perpetrator and co-perpetrator of the infringement. The Commission
         thus wrongly characterised the applicant as a co-perpetrator of the infringement in question.
      
      176    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      177    The applicant claims, in substance, that in imputing to it liability for the infringement in question, the Commission breached
         the principle of liability for personal acts and the principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender. 
      
      178    Under the principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender, a natural or legal person may be penalised only
         for acts imputed to it individually (Joined Cases T‑45/98 and T‑47/98 Krupp Thyssen Stainless and Acciai speciali Terni v Commission [2001] ECR II‑3757, paragraph 63), and that principle applies in any administrative procedure that may lead to the imposition
         of sanctions under competition law (Case T‑304/02 Hoek Loos v Commission [2006] ECR II‑1887, paragraph 118). 
      
      179    However, as is clear from the case-law set out at paragraphs 45 to 50 above, that principle must be reconciled with the concept
         of undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC. Thus, where the economic entity infringes the competition rules, it must,
         according to the principle of personal liability, answer for that infringement.
      
      180    As already stated at paragraph 105 above, however, it is not a relationship between the parent company and its subsidiary
         in which the parent company instigates the infringement or, a fortiori, the parent company’s involvement in the infringement,
         but the fact that they constitute a single undertaking for the purposes of Article 81 EC that enables the Commission to address
         the decision imposing fines to the parent company of a group of companies (see, to that effect, Michelin v Commission, paragraph 55 above, paragraph 290). Accordingly, the applicant was personally condemned for an infringement which it is
         deemed to have committed itself because of its economic and legal links with Arkema France, which enabled it to determine
         the latter’s conduct on the market.
      
      181    It follows that the imputation to the applicant of liability for the infringement in question does not breach the principle
         that penalties should be applied only to the offender. 
      
      182    In that regard, the applicant’s argument that it follows from recitals 313 and 315 to the contested decision that the Commission
         was wrong to regard the applicant as the perpetrator or co-perpetrator of the infringement must be rejected as unfounded.
         Apart from the fact that, in those recitals, the Commission does not characterise the applicant in such terms, it follows
         clearly from a reading of, in particular, recitals 367 to 375, 386, 387, 396 and 415 to the contested decision, taken together,
         that the Commission considered that, in so far as the applicant exercised decisive influence over Arkema France and the two
         companies therefore constituted an undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC, those companies constituting the undertaking,
         within the meaning of Article 81 EC, that had committed the infringement should be held liable for the infringement. 
      
      183    Accordingly, the fourth part of the second plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Fifth part, alleging breach of the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law
      –       Arguments of the parties
      184    The applicant claims that, in breaching the principle of personal liability and the principle that penalties should be applied
         only to the offender, the Commission breached the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law. The applicant
         maintains that it was condemned in spite of the absence of any legal provision imposing a penalty for an infringement that
         has not been established against an undertaking. First, Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 authorises the Commission solely
         to impose penalties on undertakings ‘which participate in [an] infringement’; and, second, the Guidelines provide that the
         Commission’s power to impose sanctions should be exercised only ‘within the limits laid down [in Regulation No 1/2003]’.
      
      185    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      186    The applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission breached the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by
         law by imposing a penalty on it, when Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 and the Guidelines make no provision for such
         a penalty.
      
      187    According to the case-law, the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law requires that legislation must clearly
         define offences and the penalties which they attract. That condition is satisfied where the individual concerned is in a position,
         on the basis of the relevant provision and if need be with the help of the interpretative assistance given by the courts,
         to know which acts or omissions will make him criminally liable (Evonik Degussa v Commission and Council, paragraph 130 above, paragraph 39).
      
      188    It should be observed that, under Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003, the Commission
         may by decision impose fines on undertakings which infringe, in particular, Article 81 EC.
      
      189    In the present case, regard being had to the provisions cited at paragraph 188 above, and in so far as the applicant and its
         subsidiary Arkema France were considered to form an undertaking within the meaning of Article 81 EC, the Commission was able,
         without committing a breach of the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law, to impose, in accordance with
         the case-law set out at paragraph 50 above, a fine on the legal persons forming part of that undertaking. 
      
      190    Accordingly, the fifth part of the second plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Sixth part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment 
      –       Arguments of the parties
      191    The applicant maintains that the principle of equal treatment, according to which, in accordance with the case-law, comparable
         situations must not be treated differently, has been breached in the present case in two ways.
      
      192    In the first place, the applicant claims that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment in so far as, in the
         Organic Peroxides decision, liability for the infringement in which Arkema France had participated had not been imputed to
         the applicant, although at the time of the facts at issue in that decision the Elf Aquitaine group was run in the same way
         as at the time of the facts at issue in the contested decision. The applicant adds, in that regard, that the Commission has
         also breached the principle of legal certainty.
      
      193    In particular, the applicant observes that the Commission’s arguments that the fact that it did not previously impute liability
         for the infringement in question to the applicant does not prevent it from imputing such liability in the contested decision,
         that it enjoys a wide discretion in relation to fines and that it is not bound by its own practice in taking decisions must
         be rejected. It is incoherent that, in identical situations, the Commission may or may not impute liability for an infringement
         to the applicant; and such a power does not fall within the discretion conferred on the Commission to ensure the effective
         application of the competition rules, but is simply arbitrary and not amenable to review by the European Union judicature.
      
      194    In the second place, the applicant maintains that the principle of equal treatment of, on the one hand, itself and, on the
         other, Akzo Nobel and ELSA has been breached. In that regard, the applicant observes that at recitals 378 to 382 and 481 to
         483 to the contested decision, although the Commission applies a body of specific indicia in order to corroborate the presumption
         of the exercise of decisive influence vis-à-vis EKA and ELSA, it dispenses with producing specific indicia vis-à-vis the applicant
         for the purpose of imputing to it the infringement committed by Arkema France. There is no justification for such different
         treatment.
      
      195    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      196    According to settled case-law, the principle of equal treatment requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently
         and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified (see Case
         C‑303/05 Advocaten voor de Wereld [2007] ECR I‑3633, paragraph 56 and the case-law cited).
      
      197    As regards the applicant’s first complaint, that the Commission breached both the principle of equal treatment and the principle
         of legal certainty, in so far as it did not impute liability to the applicant for the infringement at issue in the Organic
         Peroxides decision, it must be rejected as unfounded. Since, between adopting the Organic Peroxides decision and adopting
         the contested decision, the Commission had already imputed to the applicant liability for the infringements found in three
         decisions, namely the MCAA decision, the Hydrogen Peroxide decision and the Methacrylates decision, the applicant could not
         be unaware of the conditions on which such liability was imputed. Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that, as stated
         at paragraph 60 above, since the Commission is able, but under no obligation, to impute liability for the infringement to
         a parent company and since the conditions on which such liability may be imputed were met in the present case, the mere fact
         that the Commission did not impute such liability in the Organic Peroxides decision did not mean that it was under an obligation
         to make the same assessment in the contested decision. 
      
      198    In addition, the applicant’s argument that the fact that the Commission has a discretion which allows it to impute an infringement
         committed by a subsidiary to its parent company is arbitrary must be rejected as unfounded. Although, in accordance with the
         case-law cited at paragraph 60 above, the Commission has a discretion to decide whether it is appropriate to impute liability
         for an infringement to a parent company, the fact none the less remains that its decision to impute such liability does not,
         as in the present case, escape review by the European Union judicature, to which it falls to determine that the conditions
         of such imputation are met. 
      
      199    The applicant’s first complaint must therefore be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      200    As regards the applicant’s second complaint, that it was given discriminatory treatment in the contested decision by comparison
         with Akzo Nobel and ELSA, in so far as, unlike in their case, the Commission dispensed with adducing specific elements vis-à-vis
         the applicant for the purpose of imputing to it liability for the infringement in issue, it must be rejected as unfounded.
         
      
      201    First, that complaint is based on a misreading of the contested decision. Just as the Commission put forward additional indicia
         to corroborate the presumption that Akzo Nobel exercised decisive influence over its subsidiary EKA (recital 378 to the contested
         decision) and that ELSA did likewise over its subsidiary Finnish Chemicals (recital 481 to the contested decision), the Commission
         also put forward indicia designed to corroborate the presumption that the applicant exercised decisive influence over Arkema
         France (recital 386 to the contested decision).
      
      202    Second, even if, in the contested decision, the Commission had corroborated the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence
         only with respect to Akzo Nobel and its subsidiary EKA, and also with respect to ELSA and its subsidiary Finnish Chemicals,
         but not with respect to the applicant and its subsidiary, that would not affect the legality of that decision. As follows
         from the assessment set out at paragraph 77 above, the Commission was not required to corroborate that presumption, regard
         being had to the fact that the applicant held virtually all the shares in its subsidiary. Accordingly, even on the assumption
         that those undertakings were in a comparable situation, the fact that the Commission decided to corroborate the presumption
         of the exercise of decisive influence with respect to only some of them is not liable to entail the annulment of the contested
         decision. 
      
      203    Accordingly, the applicant’s second complaint, and the sixth part of the plea in its entirety, must be rejected as unfounded.
      
      204    In so far as the six parts of the second plea must be rejected as unfounded in part, as inadmissible in part and as ineffective
         in part, that plea must be rejected in its entirety. 
      
       Third plea, alleging distortion of the body of indicia submitted by the applicant 
       Arguments of the parties
      205    The applicant claims that the grounds set out by the Commission at recitals 400 to 404 to the contested decision for rejecting
         the elements of the body of indicia which it submitted show that the Commission distorted some of those indicia by using unsubstantiated
         extrapolations, assumptions and presumptions. Furthermore, the Commission’s assertion at recital 404 to the contested decision
         that the facts of the case are in line with such presumptions supports the assertion that it distorted those indicia.
      
      206    The Commission contests that argument. 
      
       Findings of the Court
      207    First of all, it must be noted that, in support of this plea, the applicant puts forward no specific element to substantiate
         its assertion that the Commission distorted the body of indicia which it had submitted in order to rebut the presumption of
         the exercise of decisive influence. Next, in so far as the applicant maintains, in substance, that the Commission was wrong
         to consider that the body of indicia which the applicant had supplied did not rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive
         influence, it must be held that that plea constitutes a reformulation of the fourth part of the first plea and it must therefore
         be rejected for the same reasons as those set out at paragraphs 95 to 107 above, where it was held that the body of indicia
         submitted by the applicant did not serve to rebut that presumption.
      
      208    Accordingly, the third plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Fourth plea, alleging the existence of contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision 
      209    The applicant claims that the contested decision contains three contradictions which render it null and void. In answer to
         the questions put by the Court at the hearing, the applicant confirmed that it was relying in that regard on a failure to
         state reasons. This plea is divided into three parts.
      
       First part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the application of the concept
         of undertaking within the meaning of Article 81(1) EC 
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      210    The applicant maintains that there is a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the application
         of the concept of undertaking within the meaning of Article 81(1) EC. 
      
      211    In the first place, the applicant observes that while it is apparent from recitals 1 and 320 to the contested decision that
         the Commission considered that the addressees of the decision were penalised because of their participation in the infringement
         in question, it inconsistently observes, at the same time, at recitals 69, 384 and 385 to the decision that the applicant
         never participated in the infringement in question.
      
      212    In the second place, the applicant claims that the contested decision contains a contradiction in the grounds relating to
         the ‘perimeter’ of the undertaking, within the meaning of Article 81(1) EC, which the Commission applied.
      
      213    First, the Commission defined, at recitals 16 and 385 to the contested decision, Arkema France as the sole undertaking liable
         for the infringement, whereas, at recitals 375 and 415 to the decision, it considered that it should impute the infringement
         committed by Arkema France to the applicant.
      
      214    Second, there exist, in the contested decision, contradictions in the grounds devoted to the calculation of the two fines
         imposed on the applicant. In that regard, the applicant claims that the Commission imposes a personal fine on it in the contested
         decision, although it did not participate in the infringement and was not aware of it, and that the two fines imposed on it
         were calculated on the basis of parameters that were specific to Arkema France and over which the applicant was unable to
         exercise any influence.
      
      215    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      216    According to settled case-law, the statement of reasons required by Article 253 EC must be appropriate to the act at issue
         and must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure in
         question in such a way as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and to enable the competent
         Court to exercise its power of review. It is not necessary for the reasoning to go into all the relevant facts and points
         of law, since the question whether the statement of reasons meets the requirements of Article 253 EC must be assessed with
         regard not only to its wording but also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question (see Case
         C‑367/95 P Commission v Sytraval and Brink’s France [1998] ECR I‑1719, paragraph 63 and the case-law cited, and Hoek Loos v Commission, paragraph 178 above, paragraph 58). 
      
      217    It is also settled case‑law that, where a decision taken in application of Article 81 EC relates to several addressees and
         raises a problem with regard to liability for the infringement, it must include an adequate statement of reasons with respect
         to each of the addressees, in particular those of them who, according to the decision, must bear the liability for the infringement
         (Case T‑38/92 AWS Benelux v Commission [1994] ECR II‑211, paragraph 26). Thus, in order to contain an adequate statement of reasons in regard to the parent companies
         of the subsidiaries which have committed the infringement, the Commission’s decision must contain a detailed statement of
         reasons for imputing the infringement to those companies (see, to that effect, Case T‑327/94 SCA Holding v Commission [1998] ECR II‑1373, paragraph 80).
      
      218    In the present case, without there being any need to examine each of the recitals to the contested decision on which the applicant
         relies, it must be held that it follows unambiguously from recitals 386 and 387 to the contested decision, set out at paragraph
         41 above, that it was on the basis of the finding that the applicant and Arkema France constituted a single undertaking for
         the purposes of Article 81 EC that the Commission decided to impute the infringement committed by Arkema France to the applicant
         and to impose fines on it. 
      
      219    In fact, even if the contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision on which the applicant relies were established,
         the fact would none the less remain that the statement of reasons in that decision, first, enabled the applicant to ascertain
         the reasons why a finding of infringement was made against it and why the fines were imposed on it, which is established by
         the fact that the applicant challenges in its first two pleas the legality of the contested decision in so far as the Commission
         imputed to it liability for the infringement in question and in its eighth and ninth pleas the fact that a fine was imposed
         on the applicant jointly and severally with Arkema France and in its personal capacity and, second, enabled the Court to exercise
         its power of review.
      
      220    Furthermore, in so far as the applicant claims that there is a contradiction in the grounds arising from the fact that the
         fines imposed on it in Article 2(c) and (e) of the contested decision were calculated on the basis of ‘parameters that were
         specific’ to Arkema France, that argument must be rejected as unfounded. It should be observed in that regard that, apart
         from the fact that the applicant has not stated in what way such a calculation of the fines is contradictory, the imposition
         of a personal fine and the fact that that fine is calculated on the basis of parameters specific to Arkema France follows
         directly from the application of the Guidelines and therefore calls for no particular reasons to be stated in the contested
         decision. In those circumstances, the first part of the fourth plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Second part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the applicant’s knowledge of
         the infringement in question
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      221    The applicant claims that there is a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the knowledge
         which it could have had of the infringement committed by Arkema France. The Commission first asserts in the contested decision
         that the applicant was necessarily aware of the activity of Arkema France owing to the presence of the same individuals within
         the applicant’s and Arkema France’s staff and then contradicts itself by stating, at recital 401 to the contested decision,
         that the applicant may not have been aware of the anti-competitive activities of its subsidiary.
      
      222    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      223    In so far as the applicant maintains that certain grounds of the contested decision are contradictory as to the applicant’s
         knowledge of the infringement in question, it must be stated that, even if such contradictions were established, that would
         have no impact on the fact that, since Arkema France and the applicant constituted a single undertaking for the purposes of
         Article 81(1) EC, the Commission could, in accordance with the case-law set out at paragraphs 45 to 55 above, impute liability
         for the infringement in question to the applicant, irrespective of the fact that it was aware of or participated directly
         in that infringement, which the Commission was not required to establish. Accordingly, any contradiction in the grounds of
         the contested decision in that regard has no impact in any event on the lawfulness of the contested decision. 
      
      224    Accordingly, the second part of the fourth plea must be rejected as ineffective.
      
       Third part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the nature of the control which
         a parent company exercises over its subsidiary in order to be imputed with the infringement committed by the subsidiary 
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      225    The applicant claims that there is a twofold contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision. 
      
      226    In the first place, the applicant observes that the Commission correctly asserts, at recital 407 to the contested decision,
         that the imputation to a parent company of liability for an infringement is subject to proof of the exercise of effective
         control by the parent company over the commercial policy of its subsidiary. Yet the Commission’s examination of the body of
         indicia submitted by the applicant, as is apparent from recitals 403 and 404 to the contested decision, shows that the Commission
         extended the scope of that effective control by the applicant beyond its subsidiary’s commercial policy. 
      
      227    In the second place, the applicant maintains that recitals 403 and 404 to the contested decision contradict recital 413 to
         that decision, where the Commission maintains that it relied in the Hydrogen Peroxide decision solely on a presumption that
         the applicant exercised decisive influence over its subsidiary’s commercial policy.
      
      228    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      229    By its two complaints, the applicant claims, in substance, that there are contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision
         with respect to the nature of the control that a parent company must exercise over its subsidiary in order for the Commission
         to be able to impute liability for an infringement to the parent company. 
      
      230    In the present case, it must be held that, even if the contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision were established,
         they would have no impact on the finding that the Commission did not breach its obligation to state reasons in that regard,
         since, first, as is clear upon examining the fourth part of the first plea (see paragraphs 95 to 107 above), the applicant
         was put in a position to ascertain the grounds that led the Commission to conclude that the indicia which the applicant had
         submitted did not serve to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence and, accordingly, to challenge the
         lawfulness of the contested decision and, second, the Court was able to exercise its power of review. 
      
      231    Accordingly, the third part of the fourth plea must be rejected as unfounded and the fourth plea must be rejected in its entirety
         as unfounded in part and ineffective in part. 
      
       Fifth plea, alleging breach of the principle of sound administration
       Arguments of the parties
      232    The applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission breached the principle of sound administration.
      
      233    In the first place, the Commission did not examine carefully and impartially all the relevant elements of fact and, in particular,
         the information which the applicant had supplied to it in its observations in response to the statement of objections, which
         established clearly and precisely Arkema France’s economic autonomy on the market. Nor did the Commission carry out an individual
         and specific examination of the applicant’s situation.
      
      234    In the second place, the principle of sound administration requires that the Commission apply to undertakings the rules which
         it applies to itself. However, at recital 358 to the contested decision the Commission observed that it was entitled to rely
         on a number of indicia to establish an infringement although it de facto denies that mode of proof to the applicant in the
         present case. The applicant refers to the fourth and fifth parts of the first plea in that regard.
      
      235    In the third place, the applicant claims that, contrary to the Commission’s assertion at recital 314 to the contested decision,
         the principle of sound administration requires, as the applicant stated in its observations in response to the statement of
         objections, that the Commission suspend adoption of the contested decision pending the decision of this Court in the actions
         which it had brought against the MCAA decision, the Hydrogen Peroxide decision and the Methacrylates decision. The applicant
         observes, in that regard, that the fact that the applicant is obliged to bring a new action for annulment against a Commission
         decision may be contrary to the requirement of procedural economy, as this Court held in Case T‑36/99 Lenzing v Commission [2004] ECR II‑3597.
      
      236    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments.
      
       Findings of the Court
      237    According to settled case-law, where the European Union institutions have a power of appraisal in order to be able to fulfil
         their tasks, respect for the rights guaranteed by the Community legal order in administrative procedures is of even more fundamental
         importance. Those guarantees include, in particular, the duty of the competent institution to examine carefully and impartially
         all the relevant aspects of the individual case (Case C‑269/90 Technische Universität München [1991] ECR I‑5469, paragraph 14; Case T‑44/90 La Cinq v Commission [1992] ECR II‑1, paragraph 86; and Case T‑31/99 ABB Asea Brown Boveri v Commission [2002] ECR II‑1881, paragraph 99).
      
      238    In the present case, the Court must examine each of the three complaints whereby the applicant seeks to establish that the
         Commission breached the principle of sound administration.
      
      239    In the first place, as regards the applicant’s complaint that the Commission did not examine carefully and impartially the
         indicia which it had submitted in order to rebut the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence and did not examine
         the applicant’s specific situation, it must be rejected as unfounded. Apart from the fact that the applicant puts forward
         no specific argument or evidence to substantiate that complaint, it follows from recitals 396 to 415 to the contested decision
         that the Commission examined and expressly rejected the arguments which the applicant put forward in order to rebut that presumption.
      
      240    In the second place, as regards the applicant’s complaint that, in substance, the Commission breached the principle of sound
         administration in so far as, in the present case, it rejected de facto the mode of proof by a body of indicia to rebut the
         presumption of the exercise of decisive influence, even though the Commission employed such a mode of proof, it must be rejected
         as unfounded. It must be stated, in that regard, that, as set out in the context of the fourth part of the first plea (see
         paragraphs 95 to 107 above), it was after examining the elements of the body of indicia submitted by the applicant that the
         Commission considered that they were not capable of rebutting the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence. The Commission
         therefore did not breach the principle of sound administration in that regard. 
      
      241    In the third place, as regards the applicant’s complaint that the Commission ought, in accordance with the principles of sound
         administration and procedural economy, to have suspended the procedure brought against the applicant in the present case pending
         the decision of this Court in the actions which it had brought against the MCAA decision, the Hydrogen Peroxide decision and
         the Methacrylates decision, it must be rejected as unfounded. It must be held, first of all, that, apart from the fact that
         the Commission’s decisions are presumed to be lawful, until such time as they are annulled or withdrawn (Case C‑137/92 P Commission v BASF and Others [1994] ECR I‑2555, paragraph 48), there is no legal provision that requires that the Commission suspend the adoption of decisions
         in cases relating to different facts. Furthermore, contrary to the applicant’s assertion, it does not follow from Lenzing v Commission, paragraph 235 above, paragraph 56, that the Commission was required, in the present case, for reasons of procedural economy,
         to suspend the adoption of the contested decision pending the decision of this Court in the actions which the applicant had
         brought against other decisions imposing fines on it. In fact, at paragraph 56 of that judgment, this Court considered, in
         substance, that when a decision forming the subject-matter of an action has been amended, the parties may be authorised to
         adjust the form of order sought to take account of this new fact which has come to light, since ‘[i]t would be contrary to
         the proper administration of justice and to a requirement for procedural economy to make the applicant lodge a new application
         before the Court for annulment’ in such circumstances. 
      
      242    Accordingly, the applicant’s third complaint, and the fifth plea in its entirety, must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Sixth plea, alleging breach of the principle of legal certainty
       Arguments of the parties
      243    The applicant claims, in substance, that the contested decision seriously jeopardises the legal certainty which it was entitled
         to expect, in the light of the consistent case-law which it invoked in the context of the first plea.
      
      244    In the first place, the imputation to the applicant in the contested decision of liability for the infringement in question
         is based on a criterion that is as novel as it is incomprehensible, which depends on the Commission’s goodwill in the absence
         of any specific evidence of any involvement by the parent company in its subsidiary’s commercial policy.
      
      245    In the second place, the Commission, in the contested decision, for the first time, and without any legal basis, ordered the
         applicant to pay two separate but cumulative fines, one of which is personal to the applicant, for the same facts.
      
      246    In the third place, the applicant contends, as it has already done in the context of the first part of the fourth plea, that,
         in so far as the links between it and Arkema France are the same in the present case and in the case in which the Commission
         adopted the Organic Peroxides decision, it is incomprehensible that the Commission adopted wholly different solutions in those
         two cases.
      
      247    The Commission contests those arguments. 
      
       Findings of the Court
      248    As regards, in the first place, the applicant’s complaint that the Commission has breached the principle of legal certainty,
         since it decided to impute to the applicant liability for the infringement in question on the basis of a ‘novel’ and ‘incomprehensible’
         criterion, it must be rejected as unfounded. First, as stated at paragraph 197 above, the Commission, before adopting the
         contested decision, imputed to the applicant liability for the infringements penalised in three decisions, namely the MCAA
         decision, the Hydrogen Peroxide decision and the Methacrylates decision. Accordingly, the applicant cannot properly claim
         that it was not aware of the conditions in which liability for an infringement would be imputed to a parent company. Second,
         and in any event, as is apparent from the case-law set out at paragraphs 45 to 55 above, the presumption of the exercise of
         decisive influence on which the Commission relied in the contested decision in order to penalise the applicant is neither
         ‘novel’ nor ‘incomprehensible’. 
      
      249    As regards, in the second place, the applicant’s complaint that the Commission breached the principle of legal certainty by
         ordering it, for the first time, and without any legal basis, to pay two separate but cumulative fines, one of which is imposed
         on the applicant personally, for the same facts, it must be stated, first of all, that, in accordance with the penalties provided
         for in Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003, the Commission may, by decision, impose
         fines on undertakings which infringe Article 81 EC. It is established that the object of the penalties provided for in Article
         15 of Regulation No 17 and Article 23 of Regulation No 1/2003 is to suppress illegal activities and to prevent any recurrence
         (see Case T‑15/02 BASF v Commission [2006] ECR II‑497, paragraph 218 and the case-law cited).
      
      250    According to the case-law, it falls, in principle, to the legal or natural person managing the undertaking in question when
         the infringement was committed to answer for that infringement, even if, when the decision finding the infringement was adopted,
         another person had assumed responsibility for operating the undertaking (Case C‑279/98 P Cascades v Commission [2000] ECR I‑9693, paragraph 78).
      
      251    For the purposes of their application and their implementation, decisions adopted under Article 81 EC must, however, be addressed
         to entities having legal personality (see, to that effect, Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 59, and PVC II, paragraph 60 above, paragraph 978). Thus, when the Commission adopts a decision pursuant to Article 81(1) EC, it must identify
         the natural or legal person or persons, who may be held liable for the conduct of the undertaking in question and who may
         be penalised on that basis, to whom the decision will be addressed (see, to that effect, Case 170/83 Hydrotherm Gerätebau [1984] ECR 2999, paragraph 11). 
      
      252    Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the Guidelines on setting fines which the Commission adopts ensure legal certainty
         on the part of undertakings, since they determine the method which the Commission has bound itself to use for the purposes
         of setting fines (see, to that effect, Case C‑3/06 P Groupe Danone v Commission [2007] ECR I‑1331, ‘the judgment of the Court of Justice in Groupe Danone v Commission’, paragraph 23). The administration may not depart from those Guidelines in an individual case without giving reasons that
         are compatible with the principle of equal treatment (Case C‑397/03 P Archer Daniels Midland and Archer Daniels Midland Ingredients v Commission [2006] ECR I‑4429, paragraph 91).
      
      253    According to points 9 to 11 of the Guidelines, the setting of fines is done in two steps. First, in accordance with points
         12 to 26 of the Guidelines, the Commission must determine a basic amount of the fine, which is set on the basis of a percentage
         of the value of sales by the undertakings concerned multiplied by the number of years of their participation in the cartel,
         to which is added a sum corresponding to a percentage of the value of those sales in order to deter them from participating
         in cartels. Second, in accordance with points 27 to 29 of the Guidelines, the Commission may take into account circumstances
         that result in a reduction or an increase in the amount of the fine. Point 28 of the Guidelines states, in particular, that,
         in substance, repeated infringement may result in an increase of 100% of the basic amount of the fine for each infringement
         of the same or similar type previously found. Furthermore, points 30 and 31 of the Guidelines provide, in certain circumstances,
         for an additional increase in the amount of the fine. In particular, according to point 30 of the Guidelines, ‘[t]he Commission
         will pay particular attention to the need to ensure that fines have a sufficiently deterrent effect’ and ‘to that end, it
         may increase the fine to be imposed on undertakings which have a particularly large turnover beyond the sales of goods or
         services to which the infringement relates’. In that regard, it should be borne in mind that this Court has held that, in
         so far as an undertaking whose worldwide turnover is much higher than that of the other members of the cartel is more readily
         able to raise the necessary funds to pay its fine, the Commission is entitled to increase the fine on that basis in order
         to ensure that it has a sufficiently deterrent effect on that undertaking (see, to that effect, Joined Cases T‑236/01, T‑239/01,
         T‑244/01 to T‑246/01, T‑251/01 and T‑252/01 Tokai Carbon and Others v Commission [2004] ECR II‑1181, paragraph 241). 
      
      254    In the present case, first, it should be observed that, as is clear from paragraphs 18 to 23 above, the Commission, in the
         contested decision, in accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines, the terms of which are summarised at paragraph 253
         above, imposed a fine, first, in the amount of EUR 22 700 000 on Arkema France and the applicant jointly and severally, which
         corresponds to the basic amount of the fine (see Article 2(c) of the contested decision), second, in the amount of EUR 20 430 000
         on Arkema France alone, which corresponds to an increase of 90% of the basic amount of the fine for repeated infringement
         (Article 2(d) of the contested decision) and, third, in the amount of EUR 15 890 000 on the applicant alone (see Article 2(e)
         of the contested decision), which corresponds to an increase of 70% of the basic amount of the fine to reflect the size of
         its turnover beyond the sales of the products to which the infringement relates. 
      
      255    Second, it must be emphasised that, while the applicant and Arkema France formed an undertaking within the meaning of Article
         81 EC at the time of the infringement in question, that undertaking no longer existed at the time of the adoption of the contested
         decision, since, as explained at paragraph 1 above, Arkema France was no longer controlled by the applicant as from 2006.
         
      
      256    In those circumstances, it was in accordance with Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 that the Commission was able, first,
         to impose a fine on the applicant and Arkema France jointly and severally, since they were, at the time of the facts at issue,
         the two companies that formed the undertaking, within the meaning of Article 81 EC, and had to answer for the infringement
         in question, and, second, in order to take account of the circumstance set out at paragraph 255 above, to impose an increase
         of the basic amount of the fine under point 30 of the Guidelines on the applicant alone, whose turnover, as the Commission
         correctly stated at recitals 548 and 549 to the contested decision, was on the date of adoption of the contested decision
         particularly large by comparison with the other entities penalised and could thus more readily raise the necessary funds to
         pay a fine. 
      
      257    Accordingly, in imposing a fine jointly and severally on Arkema France and the applicant, which it then increased by 70% for
         the applicant alone, the Commission acted in accordance with the power to set fines conferred on it by Article 23(2) of Regulation
         No 1/2003 and which it bound itself to apply in accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines. The applicant’s complaint
         that the Commission breached the principle of legal certainty by ordering it, without any legal basis for doing so, to pay
         two separate but cumulative fines must therefore be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      258    As regards, in the third place, the applicant’s complaint that the Commission breached the principle of legal certainty owing
         to the ‘variable geometry reasoning’ which it employed in the contested decision and in the Hydrogen Peroxide decision, it
         must be rejected as unfounded. Apart from the fact that, in those two decisions, the Commission imputed liability for the
         infringements in question to the applicant in the same way, on the basis of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence,
         it must be borne in mind in any event that, as is clear from the case-law set out at paragraph 60 above, even if the Commission
         had not imputed such liability in a previous decision, that did not in any way prevent it from doing so in a subsequent decision.
         
      
      259    Accordingly, the sixth plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Seventh plea, alleging misuse of powers
       Arguments of the parties
      260    The applicant claims that, in imputing to it liability for the infringement in question and ordering it to pay two cumulative
         fines, the Commission misused its powers under Regulation No 1/2003. The penalties imposed on the applicant were diverted
         from their legitimate objective under that regulation, since the Commission sought to maximise the penalty imposed on an undertaking
         other than the applicant, in fact its subsidiary, which acknowledged its liability for the infringement in question.
      
      261    The Commission contests that argument. 
      
       Findings of the Court
      262    It has consistently been held that a decision is vitiated by misuse of powers only if it appears, on the basis of objective,
         relevant and consistent factors, to have been taken for the purpose of achieving ends other than those stated (see Joined
         Cases T‑133/95 and T‑204/95 IECC v Commission [1998] ECR II‑3645, paragraph 188 and the case-law cited).
      
      263    First, in so far as the applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission misused its powers by imputing to it liability
         for the infringement in question, it must be borne in mind that, as examined in the context of the five parts of the first
         plea, the Commission was entitled to impute such liability, since Arkema France and the applicant formed a single undertaking
         for the purposes of Article 81 EC. 
      
      264    Second, in so far as the applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission misused its powers by imposing a personal fine
         on the applicant in Article 2(e) of the contested decision, it must be borne in mind that, as found in the context of the
         examination of the second complaint in the sixth plea (see paragraphs 249 to 257 above), it was pursuant to Article 23(2)
         of Regulation No 1/2003 and in accordance with point 30 of the Guidelines that the Commission increased the basic amount of
         the applicant’s fine alone. 
      
      265    Accordingly, the seventh plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Eighth plea, alleging that the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant is unfounded
       Arguments of the parties
      266    The applicant claims, in substance, that the fine imposed on it in Article 2(e) of the contested decision is unfounded in
         law.
      
      267    In the first place, the applicant contends that the fine of EUR 15 890 000 imposed on it has no basis in law and infringes
         a number of provisions and principles of Community law.
      
      268    First, the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant is contrary to Article 81(1) EC and Article 23(2) of Regulation
         No 1/2003. In the absence of economic unity with Arkema France, the personal fine imposed on the applicant cannot be justified,
         since the applicant did not participate in the infringement in question. Furthermore, it is contradictory to maintain that
         the applicant and Arkema France form one and the same undertaking and to impose a personal sanction on the applicant, which
         amounts to acknowledging the existence of two undertakings within the same group. In addition, only direct participation in
         an infringement entails liability calling for a personal sanction. At the hearing the applicant also observed that such a
         fine resulted in its being penalised twice for the same infringement, which is contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights
         of the European Union.
      
      269    Second, the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant breaches point 30 of the Guidelines, since that point refers only
         to the possibility of increasing ‘the fine to be imposed on undertakings’ and since, in the present case, the only ‘relevant’
         undertaking is, within the Elf Aquitaine group, Arkema France.
      
      270    Third, the applicant contends, first of all, that the personal fine imposed on it constitutes, in the absence of any legal
         basis, a breach of the principle of the presumption of innocence, the principle of the autonomy of legal persons, the principle
         of legality, the principle of liability for personal acts and the principle that penalties should be applied only to the offender.
         Furthermore, the Commission committed, in that regard, a second breach of the principle of legality, since point 30 of the
         Guidelines does not specify the parameters of the calculation of the ‘specific increase of the fine for deterrence’. The 70%
         increase of the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant therefore has no legal basis, in breach of the principle of legality,
         which requires that a measure imposing sanctions must have a sufficient degree of precision. At the hearing the applicant
         also observed that the Guidelines did not in any event have the legal force of a legislative provision.
      
      271    In the second place, the applicant claims that, in basing, at recitals 545 to 549 to the contested decision, the personal
         fine imposed on Arkema France on the alleged need to assure deterrence ‘in consideration of the size of the undertaking’s
         turnover beyond the sales of the goods or services to which the infringement relates’, the Commission infringed Community
         law in two respects.
      
      272    First, it is unfair to impose a personal fine on the applicant for deterrence, when that fine is calculated on the basis of
         the basic amount of the fine imposed on Arkema France, which already includes a specific increase for deterrence. Furthermore,
         the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant is irrelevant, since the undertaking formed, according to the Commission,
         by Arkema France and the applicant has no longer existed since 2006. In addition, although deterrence is a factor that the
         Commission may take into consideration when setting the amount of the fine, it does not constitute the legal basis of the
         fine itself.
      
      273    Second, the applicant maintains that the Commission could not rely on the applicant’s global turnover alone in order to impose
         a personal fine on the applicant and ought to have taken into consideration only the small proportion of the turnover of the
         product in question in the undertaking’s global turnover in order to determine the amount of the fine. The applicant observes,
         in that regard, that according to the case-law the size of the global turnover of the undertaking is only an approximate and
         imperfect criterion for setting the amount of the fine. Since the applicant is not present on the sodium chlorate market in
         the EEA its economic capacity to harm competition is zero.
      
      274    In the third place, the applicant contends that the Commission was not entitled to refer to the Methacrylates decision to
         justify the need for a fine which had been imposed on it in its personal capacity, since that decision is at present the subject‑matter
         of an action for annulment before this Court.
      
      275    In the fourth place, the applicant claims that it is unfair to calculate the fine imposed on it in its personal capacity on
         the basis of the factors of gravity, duration and deterrence set out at recitals 511 to 523 to the contested decision, the
         parameters of which escape the applicant, since it was not aware of the infringement in question and could not influence those
         parameters.
      
      276    In the fifth place, the contested decision did not take sufficient account of four factors when calculating the fine imposed
         on the applicant in its personal capacity. First of all, it ought to have taken into consideration the fact that the duration
         of Arkema France’s involvement in the infringement in question was less than that of EKA and Finnish Chemicals. Next, the
         Commission ought to have taken into consideration the attenuating circumstance referred to at recital 401 to the contested
         decision, relating to the negligence which it is alleged to have displayed with respect to its subsidiary. In addition, account
         should be taken of the procedural irregularities constituting a breach of fundamental rights that are set out in the applicant’s
         second plea. Last, the Commission ought to have taken account of Arkema France’s cooperation during the administrative procedure.
      
      277    In the sixth place, the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant breaches the principle of equal treatment, in two respects.
      
      278    First, the applicant is the only parent company, among the other parent companies implicated in the contested decision, namely
         Akzo Nobel, ELSA and Uralita, to be given a personal fine for deterrence, although that fine is unfairly based on deterrence
         being taken into account twice.
      
      279    Second, the applicant observes that it follows from recital 524 to the contested decision that the Commission rounded the
         basic amount of the fine imposed on Arkema France and the applicant downwards by only EUR 54 000, whereas the basic amounts
         of the fines imposed on Finnish Chemicals and EKA were rounded downwards by EUR 660 000 and EUR 213 500 respectively. It was
         on the basis of that first basic amount that the fine imposed on the applicant in its personal capacity was calculated.
      
      280    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
       Findings of the Court
      281    The applicant disputes, in substance, the fine of EUR 15 890 000 which the Commission imposed on it in Article 2(e) of the
         contested decision. In that context, the applicant raises six complaints.
      
      282    By its first complaint, the applicant puts forward three arguments relating to the lack of a legal basis on which the Commission
         could impose a personal fine on it.
      
      283    First, in so far as the applicant maintains that the fine of EUR 15 890 000 imposed on it in Article 2(e) of the contested
         decision has no legal basis and infringes Article 81(1) EC and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 in the absence of economic
         unity with Arkema France and that the imposition of that fine breaches point 30 of the Guidelines, since that point refers
         only to the possibility of increasing ‘the fine to be imposed on undertakings’ and since, in the present case, the only ‘relevant’
         undertaking is, within the Elf Aquitaine group, Arkema France, it must be held that that argument constitutes a reformulation
         of the second complaint in the sixth and seventh pleas which should be rejected for the same reasons as those set out at paragraphs
         249 to 257 and 264 above. It is in accordance with its power to set the amount of fines under Article 23(2) of Regulation
         No 1/2003 that the Commission bound itself to apply in accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines that the Commission
         imposed on the applicant an increase of 70% of the basic amount of the fine, taking into account that at the date of adoption
         of the contested decision the applicant’s particularly large turnover meant that it was more readily able to raise the funds
         necessary to pay the fine. 
      
      284    Second, as regards the applicant’s argument that the imposition on it of the fine of EUR 15 890 000 breaches the principle
         of the presumption of innocence, the principle of autonomy of legal persons, the principle of liability for personal acts
         and the principle that penalties should be applied solely to the offender, it must be observed that, apart from the fact that
         the breaches to which it refers are not substantiated by any specific argument, that argument must be rejected for the same
         reasons as those set out in the context of the second part of the first plea (see paragraphs 69 to 73 above) and also in the
         context of the third (see paragraphs 167 to 174 above), fourth (see paragraphs 177 to 183 above) and fifth (see paragraphs 186
         to 190 above) parts of the second plea. Since Arkema France and the applicant constituted a single undertaking for the purposes
         of Article 81 EC, the Commission did not breach the principle of autonomy of legal persons, the principle of the presumption
         of innocence, the principle of liability for personal acts and the principle that penalties should be imposed only on the
         offender by imposing on the applicant alone an increase of the basic amount of the fine on account of its particularly large
         turnover at the time of the adoption of the contested decision. 
      
      285    Third, as regards the applicant’s argument that the breach of the principle of legality is all the more blatant in the present
         case because point 30 of the Guidelines does not state with a sufficient degree of precision that an increase of 70% of the
         basic amount of the fine can be imposed in such circumstances, it must be borne in mind, first, that the Guidelines are not
         the legal basis for the setting of the fine, but merely provide more specific information about the application of Article
         23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 (see, by analogy, the judgment of the Court of Justice in Groupe Danone v Commission, paragraph 252 above, paragraph 28), and, second, that while the basic amount of the fine is set by reference to the infringement,
         the gravity of the infringement is determined by reference to many other factors, for which the Commission has a wide discretion
         (judgment of the Court of Justice in Groupe Danone v Commission, paragraph 252 above, paragraph 25). It is therefore pursuant to Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 and in accordance
         with point 30 of the Guidelines, which the Commission has bound itself to apply in the exercise of its discretion, that the
         Commission was able to impose on the applicant an increase of 70% of the basic amount of the fine on account of the fact that,
         owing to its particularly large turnover, it was able to raise the funds to pay the fine more readily than the other undertakings
         penalised in the present case. 
      
      286    Accordingly, the Commission did not breach the principle of legality when it acted in the present case. The applicant’s first
         complaint must therefore be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      287    By its second complaint, the applicant disputes, in substance, the amount of the personal fine imposed on it in Article 2(e)
         of the contested decision. 
      
      288    First, as regards the applicant’s argument that, in substance, it is ‘unfair’ that a personal fine should be imposed on it
         for deterrence, when that fine is calculated by reference to the basic amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on
         Arkema France and the applicant, which already includes a specific increase for deterrence, it should be borne in mind that,
         as stated at recital 523 to the contested decision, the fine of EUR 22 700 000 imposed jointly and severally on the applicant
         and Arkema France corresponds to the basic amount of the fine, which includes an additional amount of 19% of the value of
         Arkema France’s sales (see paragraph 18 above), in accordance with point 25 of the Guidelines, ‘in order to deter undertakings
         from even entering into horizontal price-fixing, market-sharing and output-limitation agreements’. Conversely, the fine of
         EUR 15 890 000 imposed on the applicant alone corresponds to 70% of the basic amount of the fine and is intended, in accordance
         with point 30 of the Guidelines, to ‘ensure that fines have a sufficiently deterrent effect’ for undertakings whose turnover,
         beyond the sales of goods or services to which the infringement relates, is particularly large.
      
      289    Accordingly, it must be stated that, first, the additional amount of 19% of the value of Arkema France’s sales taken into
         consideration in the calculation of the basic amount of the fine, in accordance with point 25 of the Guidelines, and, second,
         the specific increase imposed on the applicant pursuant to point 30 of the Guidelines, correspond to two distinct objectives
         of deterrence, which the Commission was entitled to take into account when determining the fine to be imposed on the applicant.
         The applicant’s argument in that regard must therefore be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      290    Second, in so far as the applicant maintains that the Commission ought to have taken into consideration only the small proportion
         which the turnover for the product at issue represented in the undertaking’s global turnover in order to determine the amount
         of the personal fine imposed on it, it must be rejected as unfounded. As stated at point 30 of the Guidelines, it is precisely
         where the total amount of the turnover of the undertaking is ‘particularly large’ by reference to the value of the sales of
         the goods to which the infringement relates that the Commission is entitled to impose an additional amount for deterrence.
         
      
      291    Accordingly, the applicant’s second complaint must be rejected as unfounded.
      
      292    By its third complaint, the applicant maintains that the Commission was not entitled to refer to the Methacrylates decision
         in order to justify the need to impose a personal fine on it, since that decision currently forms the subject-matter of an
         action for annulment before this Court. In that regard, first, it should be observed that, as is clear from the case-law set
         out at paragraph 241 above, Commission decisions are presumed to be lawful so long as they have not been annulled or withdrawn.
         Accordingly, there is no legal provision that prevents the Commission from making reference to the Methacrylates decision
         in the contested decision in order to substantiate its reasoning. Second, and in any event, even if the Methacrylates decision
         were annulled by the European Union judicature, that would not affect the legality of the contested decision, since, as stated
         at paragraphs 256 and 257 above, it is pursuant to Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 and in accordance with point 30 of
         the Guidelines that the Commission imposed a personal fine on the applicant in the present case. 
      
      293    Accordingly, the applicant’s third complaint must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      294    By its fourth complaint, the applicant maintains that it is unfair that the personal fine imposed on it should be calculated
         on the basis of the factors of gravity, duration and deterrence specific to Arkema France, the parameters of which escape
         the applicant, and that it be calculated on that basis even though the applicant was not aware of the infringement in question
         and could not influence those parameters. 
      
      295    In that regard, it must be stated that the applicant puts forward no argument or evidence to call in question the fact that,
         as stated at paragraphs 256 and 257 above, it was pursuant to Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1/2003 and in accordance with
         point 30 of the Guidelines that the Commission imposed a personal fine on the applicant. The fact that the applicant was or
         was not aware of the infringement in question and that the personal fine imposed on it is based on data specific to Arkema
         France cannot undermine that conclusion. 
      
      296    Accordingly, the fourth complaint must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      297    By its fifth complaint, the applicant claims that the Commission failed to take four factors into consideration when calculating
         the personal fine imposed on the applicant. It maintains that the Commission ought to have taken into consideration, first,
         the fact that Arkema France’s involvement in the infringement in question was for a lesser duration than that of EKA and Finnish
         Chemicals; second, the attenuating circumstance recognised by the Commission, at recital 401 to the contested decision, based
         on the negligence that the applicant displayed with respect to its subsidiary; third, the procedural irregularities constituting
         a breach of the applicant’s fundamental rights set out in the second plea; and, fourth, the cooperation provided by Arkema
         France during the administrative procedure.
      
      298    In that regard, it must be borne in mind that, as stated at paragraph 254 above, the fine of EUR 15 890 000 imposed on the
         applicant corresponds exclusively to the increase of 70% of the basic amount of the fine provided for at point 30 of the Guidelines.
         In accordance with that point, even if the circumstances set out at paragraph 297 above were established, the Commission was
         in no way required to take them into consideration when deciding on such a rate of increase. 
      
      299    Accordingly, the fifth complaint must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      300    By its sixth complaint, the applicant claims that the fact that a personal fine was imposed on it breaches the principle of
         equal treatment, in two respects.
      
      301    First, the applicant maintains that the principle of equal treatment was breached in so far as it is the only parent company,
         among the other parent companies implicated in the contested decision, namely Akzo Nobel, ELSA and Uralita, to have been given
         a personal fine under point 30 of the Guidelines, although that fine is unfairly based on deterrence having been taken into
         account twice. 
      
      302    In that regard, it must be borne in mind that, according to the case-law, the principle of equal treatment requires that comparable
         situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment
         is objectively justified (see Advocaten voor de Wereld, paragraph 196 above, paragraph 56 and the case-law cited).
      
      303    It must be held in the present case that, as the Commission observed at recitals 548 and 549 to the contested decision without
         being disputed by the applicant, the applicant has a much larger turnover than the other undertakings that were fined in the
         contested decision, since it has a turnover of EUR 139 389 million, while the turnovers of EKA, ELSA and Uralita come to EUR 550
         million, EUR 509 000 and EUR 1 095 million respectively. Therefore, owing to its much larger turnover by comparison with the
         turnovers of the other undertakings on which sanctions were imposed, the applicant was not in a comparable situation with
         those undertakings and the Commission was therefore justified in treating it differently from those undertakings. 
      
      304    Consequently, the Commission did not breach the principle of equal treatment by increasing the fine imposed on the applicant
         in accordance with point 30 of the Guidelines. Accordingly, the applicant’s first argument must be rejected as unfounded.
      
      305    Second, as regards the applicant’s argument that it follows from recital 524 to the contested decision that the Commission
         rounded the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on the applicant and Arkema France downwards by only EUR 54 000,
         whereas the amounts of the fines imposed on Finnish Chemicals and EKA were rounded downwards by EUR 666 000 and EUR 213 500
         respectively, it should be borne in mind, first of all, that under point 26 of the Guidelines, ‘in determining the basic amount
         of the fine, the Commission will use rounded figures’. 
      
      306    Next, it is clear on reading the Commission’s answer to the written questions put by the Court and the internal document which
         it produced in that regard, explaining the method which it employed when rounding downwards the amounts of the fines imposed
         on the entities in question in the contested decision, it must be held, first, that the Commission reduced the amount of EKA’s
         and Akzo Nobel’s fine from EUR 116 243 541 to EUR 116 000 000, the amount of Finnish Chemicals’ fine from EUR 68 773 445 to
         EUR 68 000 000, the amount of ELSA’s fine from EUR 42 322 120 to EUR 42 000 000, the amount of Arkema France’s and the applicant’s
         fine from EUR 22 754 400 to EUR 22 700 000 and, last, the amount of Aragonesas’ and Uralita’s fine from EUR 9 969 300 to EUR 9 900 000.
         Second, it follows from the rounding downwards of those fines that, as the Commission explains in substance in that document,
         it rounded the amounts of each fine in question downwards to the nearest EUR 1 million below when that did not result in a
         reduction of more than 2% of the amount of the fine and to the nearest EUR 100 000 below where rounding the fine downwards
         to the nearest EUR 1 million below would have resulted in a reduction of more than 2% of the fine. 
      
      307    Therefore, while the fines imposed on EKA and Akzo Nobel, Finnish Chemicals and ELSA were reduced by EUR 243 541, EUR 773 445 and
         EUR 322 120 respectively, which represent reductions that are higher in absolute terms than those received by Arkema France
         and the applicant and by Aragonesas and Uralita, namely EUR 54 400 and EUR 69 300 respectively, following the application
         of point 26 of the Guidelines, the fact none the less remains that the method employed by the Commission was applied consistently
         for each of the undertakings concerned and that that method is objectively justified in so far as the Commission was entitled,
         in accordance with its discretion when setting fines, to take the view that rounding those amounts of the fines downwards
         should not in any event result in a reduction of more than 2% of the fine.
      
      308    Accordingly, it must be held that the Commission did not breach the principle of equal treatment when it rounded downwards
         the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on the applicant and Arkema France. In the light of all the foregoing
         considerations, the eighth plea must be rejected in its entirety as unfounded. 
      
       Ninth plea, alleging breach of the principles and the rules that governed the calculation of the fine imposed jointly and
            severally on Arkema France and the applicant 
      309    The applicant disputes, in substance, the amount of the fine imposed on it jointly and severally with Arkema France in Article
         2(c) of the contested decision. This plea is divided into two parts. 
      
       First part, alleging errors in the calculation of the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on Arkema France and
         the applicant 
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      310    The applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission failed to take account of certain elements when calculating the amount
         of the fine imposed jointly and severally on it and Arkema France in Article 2(c) of the contested decision. 
      
      311    In the first place, the applicant disputes the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on it and Arkema France in
         Article 2(c) of the contested decision, referring to four arguments which it put forward in the fifth complaint in the eighth
         plea, in which it objects to the fine imposed on it in Article 2(e) of the contested decision (see paragraph 297 above). Accordingly,
         it claims, first, that the Commission ought to have taken into consideration the fact that Arkema France was involved in the
         infringement in question for a shorter period than EKA and Finnish Chemicals. Second, the Commission ought to have taken account
         of the attenuating circumstance to which it refers at recital 401 to the contested decision, relating to the applicant’s possible
         negligence vis-à-vis its subsidiary. Third, the Commission ought to have taken into consideration the procedural irregularities
         constituting a breach of fundamental rights listed in its second plea. Fourth, the applicant maintains that the Commission
         ought to have taken account of Arkema France’s cooperation during the administrative procedure.
      
      312    In the second place, the applicant refers to the first argument which it put forward in the sixth complaint in the eighth
         plea (see paragraph 278 above), whereby it claims that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment by imposing
         a personal fine on the applicant alone, when the other parent companies in the contested decision were fined only jointly
         and severally with their subsidiaries.
      
      313    The Commission contests that argument. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      314    In the first place, as regards the four arguments whereby the applicant seeks to dispute the calculation of the amount of
         the fine imposed in Article 2(c) of the contested decision, first, the argument that the fine should be reduced on account
         of the fact that the applicant was involved in the infringement in question for a shorter period than EKA and Finnish Chemicals
         must be rejected as unfounded. It should be observed in that regard that, as expressly stated at recital 522 to the contested
         decision, the Commission took into consideration, in accordance with point 24 of the Guidelines, a multiplier of 5 for Arkema
         France and the applicant, corresponding to a period of participation in the cartel of four years and eight months, while it
         applied a multiplier of 5.5 for EKA and its parent company and also for Finnish Chemicals and its parent company because they
         had participated in the infringement in question for a period of five years and four months. Accordingly, the applicant’s
         argument in that regard must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      315    Second, in so far as the applicant relies on the attenuating circumstance which the Commission recognised, at recital 401
         to the contested decision, resulting from the ‘possible negligence’ which the applicant had displayed with respect to its
         subsidiary, it must be held that that argument is based on an incorrect reading of that recital. In fact, at that recital,
         the Commission does not, contrary to the applicant’s contention, state that the negligence which the applicant displayed in
         controlling the actions of its subsidiary constitutes an attenuating circumstance, but, on the contrary, that ‘[t]he lack
         of diligence of the higher management of [Arkema France] and [the applicant] in exercising their duties, resulting in the
         alleged lack of awareness of the statutory and management bodies of [Arkema France] and [the applicant] of the actions taken
         by employees, cannot serve as an argument for the two companies to escape liability for such actions’. Furthermore, and in
         any event, the applicant puts forward no argument to support its claim that the Commission was wrong to consider that the
         applicant’s ‘possible negligence’ in supervising its subsidiary could justify granting a reduction of the fine. Accordingly,
         that argument must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      316    Third, as regards the applicant’s argument that the Commission ought to have taken into consideration the breaches of its
         fundamental rights which it set out in its second plea in order to grant it a reduction of the fine which it imposed on the
         applicant jointly and severally with Arkema France, it must be borne in mind that, as stated in the context of the examination
         of that plea (see paragraph 204 above), the Commission did not commit any of the breaches which the applicant invokes. Accordingly,
         that argument must also be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      317    Fourth, as regards the argument that the Commission ought to have taken account of Arkema France’s cooperation during the
         administrative procedure, it must be held that the applicant does not put forward in the present plea any specific argument
         to contest the Commission’s findings, at recitals 543 and 544 and 561 to 580 to the contested decision, that, in substance,
         Arkema France’s cooperation did not justify granting a reduction of the fine within or outside the scope of the 2002 Leniency
         Notice. Accordingly, that argument must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      318    In the second place, as regards the applicant’s argument that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment in
         so far as the applicant is the only one among the other parent companies on which fines were imposed to be given a personal
         fine, it must be rejected as unfounded. It should be borne in mind that, as stated in the context of the sixth plea (see paragraph
         254 above), the fine imposed on the applicant in Article 2(e) of the contested decision corresponds to the 70% increase in
         the basic amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on it and Arkema France in Article 2(c) of that decision, owing
         to the fact that its much larger turnover at the time of adoption of the contested decision by comparison with that of the
         other entities concerned enabled it to raise more readily the funds necessary to pay the fine. In so far as it is common ground
         that the other parent companies on which sanctions were imposed in the contested decision did not have turnovers that justified
         such an increase, it must be held that the applicant was not in a comparable situation to those companies that should have
         led the Commission to treat them in the same way. 
      
      319    Accordingly, the first part of the ninth plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment in connection with the fine imposed jointly and severally
         on Arkema France and the applicant
      
      –       Arguments of the parties
      320    The applicant claims that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment, since the fine imposed jointly and severally
         on it and Arkema France is the highest among those imposed on the undertakings penalised in the contested decision.
      
      321    In the first place, as the applicant claimed, moreover, in the context of the sixth complaint in its eighth plea (see paragraph
         279 above), the rounding downwards of the basic amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on it and Arkema France was
         much lower than that of the basic amounts of the fines imposed on Finnish Chemicals and EKA.
      
      322    In the second place, the fine imposed jointly and severally on Arkema France and the applicant did not take sufficient account,
         in accordance with the Guidelines, of two factors. First, the Commission took insufficient account of Arkema France’s small
         turnover on the sodium chlorate market in the EEA by comparison with that of EKA, which received immunity from a fine, and
         of Finnish Chemicals, which was ordered to pay a fine four times smaller than that imposed on Arkema France. Second, the Commission
         took insufficient account of Arkema France’s small market share, which is 9% of the sodium chlorate market, by comparison,
         on the one hand, with that of EKA, which is five times greater, and, on the other hand, the market share of Finnish Chemicals,
         which is three times greater. In that regard, the applicant also observes that there is a difference of only four percentage
         points between Arkema France’s market share and the market shares of Aragonesas and Solvay.
      
      323    In the third place, the applicant maintains that the fine imposed jointly and severally on it and Arkema France takes insufficient
         account of Arkema France’s lesser involvement in the infringement in question by comparison with the involvement of EKA and
         Finnish Chemicals.
      
      324    The Commission contests those arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      325    As regards, in the first place, the applicant’s complaint that the rounding downwards of the basic amount of the fine imposed
         jointly and severally on it and Arkema France was much smaller than the rounding downwards of the basic amounts of the fines
         imposed on Finnish Chemicals and EKA, it must be stated that that complaint is strictly identical to the sixth complaint in
         the eighth plea (see paragraph 279 above). It must therefore be rejected as unfounded for the same reasons as those set out
         at paragraphs 305 to 308 above, according to which it was found, in substance, that the method of rounding downwards the amount
         of that fine had been applied consistently for each of the undertakings penalised in the contested decision and that that
         method was objectively justified.
      
      326    As regards, in the second place, the applicant’s complaint that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment in
         so far as it took insufficient account, on the one hand, of Arkema France’s low turnover on the sodium chlorate market in
         the EEA by comparison with EKA and Finnish Chemicals and, on the other hand, of Arkema France’s small market share on that
         market, it must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      327    First, it must be held that the applicant puts forward neither argument nor evidence to establish that, in the light of the
         elements which it took into consideration in setting the fine imposed jointly and severally on the applicant and Arkema France,
         the Commission applied the provisions of the Guidelines in a discriminatory manner in the contested decision. Second, while
         there is a significant difference between the amount of the fine imposed on Arkema France and the applicant and the amounts
         of the fines imposed jointly and severally on EKA and Akzo Nobel and on ELSA and Finnish Chemicals, in spite of the fact that
         Arkema France’s share of the sodium chlorate market in the EEA was smaller than EKA’s and Finnish Chemicals’ market shares,
         that is justified by the fact that EKA and Akzo Nobel obtained a complete exemption from a fine and that the maximum amount
         of 10% of the turnover of Finnish Chemicals, which received a reduction of 50% of the fine in application of the 2002 Leniency
         Notice, was almost half of the applicant’s (see the tables at recitals 524 and 552 to the contested decision). 
      
      328    As regards, in the third place, the applicant’s complaint that the fine which the Commission imposed on it jointly and severally
         with Arkema France does not take sufficient account of Arkema France’s lesser involvement in the infringement by comparison
         with that of EKA and Finnish Chemicals, it should be observed that, apart from the fact that the applicant puts forward no
         argument or evidence in its written pleadings in order to substantiate that complaint, it does not dispute the grounds which
         the Commission set out at recital 536 to the contested decision for rejecting the applicant’s arguments in that regard, namely
         that ‘[the applicant] maintained frequent contacts with its competitors throughout the period of its involvement in the cartel’,
         ‘[those] initial contacts with competitors already show its active participation in the anti-competitive arrangements [in
         question]’, or again that the applicant’s assertion that ‘it could not have played a mediating role [between EKA and Finnish
         Chemicals] due to its limited market share is clearly rebutted by the documentary evidence referred to in [the contested decision]’.
      
      329    Therefore, the third complaint and, accordingly, the ninth plea in its entirety must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Tenth plea, alleging breach of the provisions of the 2002 Leniency Notice 
      330    The applicant claims that the Commission made errors of fact and of law in not granting it a reduction of its fine under the
         2002 Leniency Notice. This plea is divided into two parts.
      
       First part, relating to the refusal to grant a reduction of the fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice 
      –       Arguments of the parties
      331    The applicant maintains that the Commission breached the 2002 Leniency Notice by not reducing the fine imposed jointly and
         severally on the applicant and Arkema France, on the ground that the evidence adduced by Arkema France was insufficient. The
         applicant contends in that regard that, in so far as the Commission is bound by the provisions of that notice, it was not
         entitled to reject, either without stating reasons, or in an abstract and ‘capricious’ manner, any reduction for the two fines
         imposed on the applicant.
      
      332    In the first place, as is apparent from recitals 554, 561, 581 and 584 to the contested decision, it is common ground that
         Arkema France was the first undertaking, after EKA, to have provided the Commission with evidence of the cartel.
      
      333    In the second place, in the applicant’s submission, it is apparent from the actual grounds of the contested decision that,
         contrary to the findings made by the Commission at recitals 568 to 580 to the contested decision, the Commission relied on
         the evidence supplied by Arkema France to establish the infringement in question. The applicant refers in that regard, in
         the contested decision, to recitals 38 and 46 and footnote 63, to recital 76 and footnote 116, to recital 94 and footnote
         136, to recital 98 and footnote 142, to recitals 243 and 251 and footnote 302, to recitals 254, 255, 259, 260, 273, 314, 344,
         355, 589, 593 and 594 and footnotes 118, 259, 293, 337, 540 and 542. Furthermore, in the applicant’s submission, the evidence
         produced by Arkema France made it possible to confirm a number of facts relating to the infringement in question, as is clear
         from recitals 568, 569, 571 to 573, 575 and 576 to the contested decision. It follows from recital 344, in limine, to the contested decision, moreover, that Aragonesas considered that the information supplied by Arkema France had significant
         added value.
      
      334    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      335    The applicant claims, in substance, that the Commission breached the provisions of the 2002 Leniency Notice by not granting
         Arkema France a reduction of 30 to 50% of its fine although it was the first undertaking, after EKA, which obtained immunity
         from a fine, to provide it with evidence having significant added value.
      
      336    Under point 20 of the 2002 Leniency Notice, ‘[u]ndertakings that do not meet the conditions [to obtain exemption from a fine]
         may be eligible to benefit from a reduction of any fine that would otherwise have been imposed’.
      
      337    Point 21 of the 2002 Leniency Notice provides that, ‘[i]n order to qualify [for a reduction of its fine under point 20 of
         that notice], an undertaking must provide the Commission with evidence of the suspected infringement which represents significant
         added value with respect to the evidence already in the Commission’s possession and must terminate its involvement in the
         suspected infringement no later than the time at which it submits the evidence’.
      
      338    The first paragraph of point 23(b) of the 2002 Leniency Notice provides for three bands of reduction of the fine.. The first
         undertaking to meet the condition laid down at point 21 of that notice is entitled to receive a reduction of the fine of between
         30 and 50%, the second undertaking is entitled to a reduction of its fine of between 20 and 30% and subsequent undertakings
         are entitled to a reduction of up to 20% of their fines.
      
      339    The second paragraph of point 23(b) of the 2002 Leniency Notice provides that, ‘[i]n order to determine the level of reduction
         within each of these bands, the Commission will take into account the time at which the evidence fulfilling the condition
         in point 21 [of that notice] was submitted and the extent to which it represents added value’ and that ‘[i]t may also take
         into account the extent and continuity of any cooperation provided by the undertaking following the date of its submission’.
      
      340    According to the case-law, moreover, the Commission has a wide discretion as regards the method of calculating fines and it
         may, in that regard, take account of numerous factors, including the cooperation provided by the undertakings concerned during
         the investigation conducted by its departments. In that context, the Commission is required to make complex assessments of
         fact, such as those relating to the cooperation provided by the individual undertakings concerned (Case C‑328/05 P SGL Carbon v Commission [2007] ECR I‑3921, paragraph 81, and Joined Cases T‑456/05 and T‑457/05 Gütermann and Zwicky v Commission [2010] ECR II‑0000, paragraph 219).
      
      341    Furthermore, in assessing the cooperation given by members of a cartel, only a manifest error of assessment on the part of
         the Commission is open to censure, since the Commission enjoys a wide discretion in assessing the quality and usefulness of
         the cooperation provided by an undertaking, especially in comparison with the contributions made by other undertakings (SGL Carbon v Commission, paragraph 340 above, paragraph 88). It should also be borne in mind in that regard that, while the Commission is required
         to state the reasons for which it considers that information provided by undertakings under the Leniency Notice constitutes
         a contribution which does or does not justify a reduction of the fine, it is incumbent on undertakings wishing to contest
         the Commission’s decision in that regard to show that, in the absence of such information provided voluntarily by the undertakings,
         the Commission would not have been in a position to prove the essential elements of the infringement and therefore adopt a
         decision imposing fines (Erste Group Bank and Others v Commission, paragraph 60 above, paragraph 297).
      
      342    Furthermore, the reduction of fines in cases where the undertakings which participated in infringements of competition law
         have offered cooperation is justified only where it is considered that the cooperation made it easier for the Commission to
         establish an infringement and, as the case may be, to put an end to it (Dansk Rørindustri and Others v Commission, paragraph 45 above, paragraph 399, and Case T‑338/94 Finnboard v Commission [1998] ECR II‑1617, paragraph 363). In view of the rationale for the reduction, the Commission cannot disregard the usefulness
         of the information provided, which inevitably depends on the evidence already in its possession (Gütermann and Zwicky v Commission, paragraph 340 above, paragraph 220). 
      
      343    It follows from the case-law, moreover, that where an undertaking providing cooperation does no more than confirm, in a less
         precise and explicit manner, certain information that has already been provided by another undertaking by way of cooperation,
         the extent of the cooperation provided by the former undertaking, while possibly of some benefit to the Commission, cannot
         be treated as comparable with that provided by the undertaking which was the first to supply that information. A statement
         which merely corroborates to a certain degree a statement which the Commission already had at its disposal does not facilitate
         the Commission’s task significantly. Accordingly, it cannot be sufficient to justify a reduction of the fine for cooperation
         (see, to that effect, Case T‑44/00 Mannesmannröhren-Werke v Commission [2004] ECR II‑2223, paragraph 301; Case T‑38/02 Groupe Danone v Commission [2005] ECR II‑4407, ‘the judgment of this Court in Groupe Danone v Commission’, paragraph 455; and Gütermann and Zwicky v Commission, paragraph 340 above, paragraph 222).
      
      344    Last, the cooperation of an undertaking in the investigation gives no entitlement to a reduction in a fine where that cooperation
         went no further than the cooperation incumbent on it under Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003 (see, to that effect, Case T‑12/89
         Solvay v Commission [1992] ECR II‑907, paragraphs 341 and 342, and the judgment of this Court in Groupe Danone v Commission, paragraph 343 above, paragraph 451). 
      
      345    In the present case, it should be observed at the outset that it is common ground that, as is apparent from recital 561 to
         the contested decision, Arkema France was the second undertaking to have submitted an application under the 2002 Leniency
         Notice after EKA. The Court must therefore examine whether, as the applicant maintains, it is apparent upon reading each of
         the recitals to the contested decision which it lists, and which are set out at paragraph 333 above, that Arkema France provided
         the Commission with evidence of significant added value within the meaning of point 21 of the 2002 Leniency Notice. 
      
      346    In the first place, as regards the applicant’s complaint that, in substance, it ought to have obtained a reduction of its
         fine in accordance with the 2002 Leniency Notice, in so far as it was the first undertaking to provide the information set
         out at recitals 38, 46, 344, 355 and 589 to the contested decision, and also to the related footnote 63, it must be held that
         the Commission did not commit any manifest error of assessment in considering that such information did not have significant
         added value. 
      
      347    First, as regards recitals 38 and 46 to the contested decision, and the associated footnote 63, it must be observed that they
         concern information supplied by Arkema France in relation to its production capacities and also to the value of sales and
         the market shares of the undertakings present on the sodium chlorate market in the EEA. Since that information does not go
         further, within the meaning of the case-law cited at paragraph 344 above, than that which Arkema France was required to provide
         under Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003, it must be held that it does not have significant added value. 
      
      348    Second, as regards recital 344 to the contested decision, it should be noted that the Commission refers at that recital to
         an argument put forward by Aragonesas, claiming that ‘[t]he evidence presented by the Commission is based primarily on the
         … applications [under the 2002 Leniency Notice] made by EKA, Finnish Chemicals and [Arkema France]’. In that regard, it should
         be observed that since the Commission merely refers at that recital to an argument formulated by Aragonesas, that argument
         cannot be regarded as recognition by the Commission that Arkema France provided the Commission with information having significant
         added value or as establishing that the Commission made a manifest error of assessment in deciding that the information provided
         by Arkema France did not have significant added value. 
      
      349    Third, as regards recital 355 to the contested decision, the Commission observes at that recital, in substance, that ‘statements
         which run counter to the interests of the declarant must in principle be regarded as particularly reliable evidence’. In that
         regard, it must be held that it cannot be concluded from such a general assessment on the part of the Commission that the
         information provided by Arkema France made it possible, in the present case, to facilitate the Commission’s task significantly
         by enabling it to establish the facts of the infringement and, accordingly, that it had significant added value. 
      
      350    Fourth, as regards recital 589 to the contested decision, the Commission observes at that recital that, ‘[i]n assessing the
         value of the evidence provided by Finnish Chemicals, it should be pointed out that at the time Finnish Chemicals approached
         the Commission, the Commission already possessed evidence submitted by EKA, Finnish Chemicals (in its reply to the information
         request dated 10 September 2004, as far as Finnish Chemicals did not go beyond the scope of that request) and [Arkema France]’.
         In that regard, it should be observed that, while the wording of that recital might be interpreted as meaning that the Commission
         considered that Arkema France provided ‘probative elements’, such an interpretation cannot be upheld in the present case,
         in view of the context in which that assessment was formulated by the Commission and the findings which it makes elsewhere
         in the contested decision. First of all, in so far as that assessment by the Commission was made in the context of the evaluation
         of the added value of the information submitted by Finnish Chemicals, it is intended to emphasise that it is in the light
         of the information already available in its file that the Commission is required to consider whether the information provided
         by Finnish Chemicals has significant added value, but not to indicate that Arkema France has provided information having significant
         added value. Furthermore, that assessment does not call in question the findings made by the Commission, at recitals 561 to
         580 to the contested decision, that all the arguments of the applicant and Arkema France set out in the contested decision,
         whereby they claim that Arkema France supplied information having significant added value, must be rejected. Last, and in
         any event, the assessment made by the Commission at recital 589 to the contested decision is not capable of establishing that,
         in the light of the information provided by Arkema France, the Commission made a manifest error of assessment when it considered
         that that information did not have significant added value. 
      
      351    In the second place, as regards recitals 76, 254, 255, 259 and 273 to the contested decision, and also the related footnotes
         116 and 337, to which the applicant refers, it must be held that the Commission did not make any manifest error of assessment
         when it considered that they did not have significant added value. 
      
      352    First, as regards recital 76 to the contested decision and the related footnote 116, the Commission describes there the general
         operation of the cartel, which was characterised in particular by ‘frequent contacts in the form of bi- and multilateral meetings
         and telephone calls without, however, following a fixed scheme’. The Commission also states that, ‘[a]ccording to [Arkema
         France], a list of shared customers and of the sales volumes which each of the participating [sodium chlorate] producers was
         allowed to supply to those customers was drawn up [at] the very beginning of the cartel’ and that ‘[Arkema France] has not,
         however, presented any such list to the Commission’. In that regard, apart from the fact that it follows from EKA’s oral application
         for immunity that EKA had already informed the Commission of the nature of the contacts between the undertakings in question,
         that information, which Arkema France did not substantiate by any documentary evidence, did not, within the meaning of the
         case-law cited at paragraph 343 above, have significant added value. 
      
      353    Second, as regards recital 254 to the contested decision and the related footnote 305, the Commission observes there that
         Arkema France stated that ‘[its representative, Mr L.] believes to remember a meeting between Finnish Chemicals and [Arkema
         France] aimed at finding out why the volume-sharing rules applicable to [the customer] MODO were not respected any more’ and
         that ‘[d]uring this meeting, which [Mr L.] thinks to have taken place in the first quarter [of] 1999 in Finland, Finnish Chemicals
         stated [that it had] become exclusive supplier of MODO, following an agreement of its parent company with MODO, thus breaching
         the existing agreement between EKA, Finnish Chemicals and [Arkema France], in connection with this customer’. In that regard,
         it should be observed that, at recital 255 to the contested decision, the Commission further notes that, ‘[h]owever, since
         the contract between MODO and Finnish Chemicals was concluded only in September 1999, the Commission considers that [Mr L.]
         confused the dates and venues and in fact referred to the meeting of 9 November 1999 in Copenhagen’. Therefore, apart from
         the fact that the oral information provided by Arkema France is, on its own admission, uncertain (‘[Mr L.] believes to remember’)
         but also imprecise, it must be held, in any event, that the Commission expressly observes, at recital 255 to the contested
         decision, that that information is inaccurate, which the applicant, moreover, does not dispute. Therefore the Commission did
         not make any manifest error of assessment in deciding that such information did not have significant added value. 
      
      354    Third, as regards recital 259 to the contested decision, the Commission refers there to travel expense records of Arkema France’s
         representative, Mr L., which cover the period October to December 1999 and were supplied to the Commission by Arkema France.
         It is also stated at that recital that those documents contain an entry that reads ‘15/12 EKA Roissy’ and that Arkema France
         infers that ‘this entry could refer to a meeting with representatives of EKA at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris
         on 15 December 1999’. It should be noted that, at that recital, the Commission states that EKA does not recall such a meeting.
         Accordingly, the Commission did not make any manifest error of assessment in considering that that information, about which
         Arkema France is not certain and which was not corroborated, did not have significant added value. It should be emphasised
         in that regard that the fact that the Commission, owing to the absence of evidence sufficient to corroborate that information,
         did not include the meeting at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in the list of meetings and telephone calls relating to the
         cartel (see Annex 1 to the contested decision) confirms that the information does not have significant added value.
      
      355    Fourth, as regards recital 273 to the contested decision, the Commission states there that Arkema France mentions a meeting
         between EKA, Finnish Chemicals and Arkema France in ‘spring 2000’. However, it should be observed that the Commission also
         states at the same recital that neither EKA nor Finnish Chemicals confirmed that that meeting took place. In addition, the
         Commission states at that recital that, on the basis of the information provided by EKA as set out at recital 283 to the contested
         decision, the reference must be to the meeting held on 9 February 2000. Accordingly, apart from the fact that that information
         supplied by Arkema France is imprecise, the Commission observed, without being contested by the applicant, that it was not
         corroborated by other elements enabling the Commission to prove it. Accordingly, the Commission did not make any manifest
         error of assessment in deciding that that information did not have significant added value. 
      
      356    Fifth, as regards footnote 337 to the contested decision, it must be noted that the Commission sets out at that footnote the
         content of recital 284 to the contested decision, where it observes, in particular, that, ‘[w]hile there were several telephone
         calls and meetings among competitors as late as January and February 2000 …, the usual level of cooperation entailing mainly
         efforts to allocate sales volumes and to fix prices ultimately was not restored [in 2000], either on account of the loss of
         mutual trust or for any of the interrelated reasons as indicated by the competitors in their various submissions’. At footnote
         337 to the contested decision, the Commission states, vis-à-vis the date on which the cartel ended, that ‘EKA and [Arkema
         France] refer to their respective internal competition law compliance programmes[,] which were introduced in 1999 and 2000’
         and that ‘Finnish Chemicals states that contacts with competitors became obsolete once the contract with the customer MODO
         had been concluded’. In that regard, it should also be noted that the Commission states, at recital 575 to the contested decision,
         that Arkema France’s representative, Mr L., ‘only confirmed EKA’s statement concerning the effect of the adoption of [competition
         law] compliance programmes, without submitting any new evidence in this regard’. Furthermore, at recital 593 to the contested
         decision and at footnote 540, the Commission notes that, ‘at the time it received the reply to the request for information
         and the leniency application from Finnish Chemicals, it already had in the file information, obtained from two independent
         sources [EKA and Arkema France], indicating that the infringement did not cease before spring 2000’. Last, at recital 594
         to the contested decision and at footnote 542 the Commission states that it had ‘already concluded from EKA’s submission’
         that EKA had distanced itself from the cartel in spring 2000. 
      
      357    In the light of the findings made by the Commission at the recitals to the contested decision referred to at paragraph 356
         above, it must be considered that the information supplied by Arkema France in that regard did not have significant added
         value at the time when it supplied it to the Commission. Apart from the fact that the information supplied by Arkema France
         to the effect that the cartel came to an end after competition law compliance programmes were introduced lacks precision as
         to the exact date taken by the Commission for the purpose of establishing the end of the infringement, namely 9 February 2000
         (Article 1(e) of the contested decision), it was on the basis of the information provided by EKA, as is apparent from recital
         290 to the contested decision, that the Commission was able to establish that the infringement had ended with the meeting
         of the trade association CEFIC, which was held on 9 February 2000. 
      
      358    In the third place, as regards, in the contested decision, recital 94 and footnote 136, recital 98 and footnote 142, recital
         243 and footnote 293, recital 251 and footnote 302, recital 260 and recital 593 and footnote 540, recital 594 and footnote
         542, and footnotes 118 and 259, it must be noted that they refer either to information which, as is clear from the contested
         decision, was already in the Commission’s possession when Arkema France submitted its application under the 2002 Leniency
         Notice, or to information insufficiently precise or substantiated to enable the Commission to establish the facts of the infringement
         or, last, to information which the Commission was able to obtain pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003.
      
      359    First, as regards recital 94 to the contested decision and footnote 136, the Commission states there that ‘[a]ccording to
         Finnish Chemicals, a meeting was held on 17 May 1995 at the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen and was attended by [EKA, Finnish
         Chemicals and Arkema France]’. The Commission observes there that the travel expense records of Arkema France’s representative,
         Mr D., confirm his presence at that meeting. In that regard, first, it should be observed that it follows from recitals 95
         and 96 to the contested decision that the Commission established the existence of that meeting on the basis of the evidence
         supplied by Finnish Chemicals, which the applicant does not dispute. At recital 96 to the contested decision, the Commission
         states that the notes taken at the meeting of 17 May 1995 by Finnish Chemicals’ representative, Mr S., ‘[show] that [Arkema
         France] participated in [the cartel]’. Second, and in any event, it should be observed that the fact of supplying only the
         travel expense records of Arkema France’s representative, which serve to confirm his presence at the meeting in question,
         is cooperation which does not go beyond, within the meaning of the case-law set out at paragraph 344 above, that which results
         from Arkema France’s obligations under Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003. Accordingly, the Commission did not make a manifest
         error of assessment in considering that Arkema France had not provided elements of significant added value in that regard.
         
      
      360    Second, as regards recital 98 to the contested decision and footnote 142, the Commission states there, in particular, that
         ‘EKA further reports that around 1995, together with Finnish Chemicals and [Arkema France], it “decided to make a huge price
         increase, which worked out” for Portugal in the context of the escudo losing value’ and adds that ‘[t]he evidence submitted
         by EKA shows that, in 1995, EKA increased its prices charged to customers in Portugal by 31% and 44% compared to the prices
         in 1993’. In addition, the Commission states that ‘[a] successful price increase in 1995 is also confirmed by [Arkema France]’.
         It is therefore clear from the content of the contested decision that that price increase in 1995 was established on the basis
         of oral information and documents supplied by EKA, which the applicant does not dispute. Therefore, even though the oral information
         provided by Arkema France confirms that supplied by EKA, it must be held, as the Commission concluded, that that information
         cannot be regarded, in accordance with the case-law cited at paragraph 343 above, as having significant added value, since
         Arkema France did not provide further details of that price increase by comparison with those provided by EKA.
      
      361    Third, as regards recital 243 to the contested decision and footnote 293, the Commission observes there that ‘EKA and [Arkema
         France] indicated in their submissions that a meeting between their representatives took place in February or March 1999’
         and that ‘[Arkema France] confirmed that Mr [W.] represented EKA in this meeting’. In that regard, it must be noted that,
         at that recital, the Commission expressly uses the oral information supplied by EKA. Furthermore, it must also be noted that
         the Commission also observed, at recital 245 to the contested decision, that ‘[e]ven though it was not possible to establish
         with full certainty that the meeting took place, the Commission considers it credible that the discussions among the competitors
         were continued in the manner as reported by EKA’. Therefore, apart from the fact that it is solely on the basis of the information
         provided by EKA that the Commission was able to know about that meeting and what was discussed there, it considers, without
         being contradicted by the applicant, that that information does not enable the facts of the infringement to be established
         with certainty. Accordingly, it must be held that the Commission did not err in deciding that the information supplied by
         Arkema France in that regard did not have significant added value. 
      
      362    Fourth, as regards recital 251 to the contested decision and the related footnote 302, the Commission observes there that
         ‘Finnish Chemicals informed the Commission about a meeting which took place in Copenhagen on 9 November 1999’, attended by
         representatives of Arkema France and Finnish Chemicals. That recital also states that Arkema France ‘confirmed that this meeting
         had taken place and provided the Commission with [its representative Mr L.’s] travel expense records[,] which show that he
         had travelled to Copenhagen on 9 November 1999’. In that regard, it should be observed, first, that the fact of supplying
         only the travel expense records of Arkema France’s representative confirming his presence at the meeting in question constitutes
         cooperation not going beyond, within the meaning of the case-law set out at paragraph 344 above, that which results from its
         obligations under Article 18 of Regulation No 1/2003. Second, the Commission reproduces verbatim, at recital 252 to the contested
         decision, the precise information supplied by Finnish Chemicals describing what was discussed at that meeting, whereas recital
         254 to the contested decision contains imprecise statements on the part of Arkema France concerning that meeting. Last, it
         follows from those recitals that the information supplied by Arkema France did not make it possible to corroborate the evidence
         in the Commission’s file at the time when it was supplied, but that it was the information supplied by Finnish Chemicals that
         enabled the Commission to establish the facts. Accordingly, the Commission did not make any manifest error of assessment in
         considering that the information supplied by Arkema France in that regard did not have significant added value. 
      
      363    Fifth, as regards recital 260 to the contested decision, the Commission states there that ‘Finnish Chemicals stated [through
         its representative, Mr S.,] that the representatives of [Arkema France] and Finnish Chemicals met one more time on 21 December
         1999 … in Stockholm’ and that ‘[t]his meeting is also confirmed by the travel expense records of Mr [L.] provided by [Arkema
         France]’. It must be observed in that regard that, apart from the fact that, as that recital shows, the Commission proved
         that meeting solely on the basis of the information supplied by Finnish Chemicals, the fact of supplying only the travel expense
         records of Arkema France’s representative confirming his presence at the meeting in question constitutes cooperation not going
         beyond, within the meaning of the case-law set out at paragraph 344 above, that resulting from its obligations under Article
         18 of Regulation No 1/2003. 
      
      364    Sixth, as regards footnote 118 to the contested decision, the Commission states there that ‘[Arkema France] confirmed the
         existence of the market-sharing mechanism and the compensation scheme as described by EKA’. In that regard, it should be observed
         that, apart from the fact that that recital shows that the Commission relied on EKA’s oral statements to establish the facts
         of the infringement, which the applicant does not dispute, the mere oral and imprecise corroboration of that information cannot
         be regarded, as is clear from the case-law cited at paragraph 343 above, as having significant added value.
      
      365    Seventh, as regards recital 207 to the contested decision and the related footnote 259, the Commission states there that ‘[i]t
         is to be noted that, in the context of the discussion between Finnish Chemicals and [Arkema France] regarding the customer
         MODO, Mr [L., Arkema France’s representative] called Mr [B.] (the representative of Quadrimex, Finnish Chemicals’ importing
         company in France) in order to discuss [Arkema France’s] volume losses’ and that ‘[d]uring these phone calls on 2 and 5 October
         1998, Mr [L.] complained about the Scandinavian aggressivity and claimed volume compensations for [Arkema France]’. In that
         regard, it follows from the documents cited at footnote 257 and from point 4.3.1.20, entitled ‘1998 – Conflict concerning
         the customer MODO’, at recitals 205 to 216 to the contested decision, that, in order to establish the precise nature of the
         contacts between competitors concerning supplies to the customer MODO, the dates of those contacts and the volumes allocated,
         the Commission relied wholly on the precise information which Finnish Chemicals had supplied to it. The Commission therefore
         did not make a manifest error of assessment in deciding that the information supplied by Arkema France in that regard did
         not have significant added value. 
      
      366    In the fourth place, as regards recitals 568, 569, 571 to 573, 575 and 576 to the contested decision, on which the applicant
         relies, it should be observed that it follows from those recitals that the Commission had received that information ‘from
         two sources’ at the time when Arkema France supplied it (recital 568 to the contested decision), that Arkema France ‘confirm[ed]
         the scheme in general terms, [but] did not provide any written evidence originating from the time to which the facts pertain
         which would have been capable of strengthening the Commission’s ability to prove the facts in question’ (recital 569 to the
         contested decision), that the information provided by Arkema France concerning contacts with its competitors was ‘very basic
         .. and did not strengthen the Commission’s ability to prove the facts in question’ (recital 571 to the contested decision),
         that the information relating to price increases in 1993, 1994 and 1995 confirmed ‘in very general terms’ the information
         already in the Commission’s possession (recital 572 to the contested decision), that the information relating to the supply
         of the customer MODO was ‘well documented already by EKA’ (recital 573 to the contested decision), that Arkema France ‘only
         confirmed EKA’s statement concerning the effect of the adoption of compliance programmes, without submitting any new evidence
         in this regard’ (recital 575 to the contested decision) and also the Commission’s assessment that ‘[w]hile [Arkema France]
         was able to confirm some aspects of the functioning of the cartel in a very general way, it nevertheless failed to do this
         in a manner that would have significantly strengthened the Commission’s ability to prove the infringement’ (recital 576 to
         the contested decision). Accordingly, it must be held that none of those recitals establishes that the information supplied
         by Arkema France had significant added value. 
      
      367    In the light of all the foregoing considerations, it must be concluded that the Commission did not make a manifest error of
         assessment in not granting Arkema France a reduction of its fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice. Accordingly, the first part
         of the tenth plea must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
       Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment
      –       Arguments of the parties
      368    The applicant claims that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment by not granting Arkema France, unlike Finnish
         Chemicals, any ‘credit’ for the information which it supplied to the Commission and which the Commission none the less acknowledged,
         at recitals 568, 569, 571, 572, 573, 575 and 576 to the contested decision, as having enabled it to confirm the facts of the
         infringement. That difference in treatment has the effect of ‘bidding up’ the fines imposed on the applicant, which ought
         to have received, with Arkema France, a reduction of the amount of the fine of between 30 and 50% by comparison with the fines
         imposed on the undertakings in question and in particular with Finnish Chemicals.
      
      369    The Commission contests those arguments. 
      
      –       Findings of the Court
      370    The applicant maintains, in substance, that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment, since it granted Finnish
         Chemicals, but not Arkema France, a reduction of the fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice. 
      
      371    According to the case-law referred to at paragraph 196 above, the principle of equal treatment requires that comparable situations
         must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is
         objectively justified.
      
      372    In the present case, since, first, as was concluded at the close of the examination of the first part of the tenth plea (see
         paragraph 367 above), the Commission did not make a manifest error of assessment in considering that the evidence adduced
         by Arkema France did not have significant added value and, second, the applicant does not dispute, in that context, the Commission’s
         finding that the information provided by Finnish Chemicals did have significant added value, it must be held that Arkema France
         and Finnish Chemicals were not in the same situation from the aspect of the grant of a reduction of the fine under the 2002
         Leniency Notice. 
      
      373    It must therefore be held that the applicant has not established that the Commission breached the principle of equal treatment
         by not granting Arkema France any reduction of the fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice.
      
      374    Therefore, the second part of the tenth plea, and, accordingly, the tenth plea in its entirety and the applicants’ first head
         of claim, must be rejected as unfounded. 
      
      2.     The claims, submitted in the alternative, for variation of the amount of the fines
       Arguments of the parties
      375    In the context of its 11th plea, the applicant claims that, if the Court should not annul the contested decision in so far
         as it concerns the applicant, the fines imposed on it should be annulled or reduced.
      
      376    First, the applicant maintains that it would be unfair to impose on it the highest fine of those imposed on the undertakings
         referred to in the contested decision, when Arkema France’s liability for the infringement is considerably less than that
         of EKA and Finnish Chemicals. The applicant observes, in that regard, that the two main players in the cartel were EKA and
         Finnish Chemicals, as is clear from the grounds of the contested decision, and that it was notably in reaction to the fight
         between those two competitors to share the Nordic markets that the other parties to the cartel such as Arkema France were
         induced to react and protect their markets in their regions.
      
      377    Second, the applicant contends that, within the framework of its general power of appraisal, the Court should take account,
         on the one hand, of Arkema France’s lesser liability for the infringement in question by comparison with that of EKA and Finnish
         Chemicals and, on the other hand, of the factors which it invoked in the first and second complaints of the eighth plea (see
         paragraphs 267 to 273 above), in the first and second parts of the ninth plea (see paragraphs 310 to 312 and 320 to 323 above)
         and in the tenth plea (see paragraphs 331 to 333 and 368 above).
      
      378    The Commission contests the applicant’s arguments. 
      
       Findings of the Court
      379    It must be borne in mind that, according to the case-law, as regards the review carried out by the European Union judicature
         in respect of Commission decisions on competition matters, more than a simple review of legality, which merely permits dismissal
         of the action for annulment or annulment of the contested measure, the unlimited jurisdiction conferred on the General Court
         by Article 31 of Regulation No 1/2003 in accordance with Article 229 EC authorises the Court to vary the contested measure,
         even without annulling it, by taking into account all the factual circumstances, so as to amend, for example, the amount of
         the fine (see Case C‑534/07 P Prym and Prym Consumer v Commission [2009] ECR I‑7415, paragraph 86 and the case-law cited).
      
      380    As regards, first, the application for variation of the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on the applicant
         and Arkema France owing to the fact that it fails to take sufficient account of Arkema France’s lesser involvement in the
         cartel by comparison with that of EKA and Finnish Chemicals, the Court considers that that application should not be granted
         since, as stated at paragraph 328 above, the applicant puts forward no argument or evidence to establish that Arkema France
         played a minor role in the cartel that would justify a reduction of the amount of the fine on that basis.
      
      381    As regards, second, the application for variation of the fines imposed jointly and severally on Arkema France and the applicant
         and also personally on the applicant, in the light of the arguments raised in the first and second complaints of the eighth
         plea, in the first and second parts of the ninth plea and in the tenth plea, the Court considers, in the light of all the
         grounds set out above and in the absence of other arguments put forward by the applicant in that respect, that there is nothing
         to justify such a reduction.
      
      382    The applicant’s second head of claim must therefore be rejected and the action must be dismissed in its entirety. 
      
       Costs
      383    Under Article 87(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been
         applied for in the successful party’s pleadings. As the applicant has been unsuccessful, it must be ordered to pay the costs,
         in accordance with the form of order sought by the Commission. 
      
      On those grounds,
      THE GENERAL COURT (Second Chamber)
      hereby:
      1.      Dismisses the action;
      2.      Orders Elf Aquitaine SA to pay the costs.
      
               Pelikánová 
            
            
               Jürimäe 
            
            
               Soldevila Fragoso
            
         Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 17 May 2011.
      [Signatures]
      
      Table of contents
      
      Background to the dispute
      Procedure and forms of order sought
      Law
      1.  The principal claims, seeking annulment in part of the contested decision
      First plea, alleging breach of the rules governing the imputation of liability for an infringement within groups of companies
      First part, alleging an error of law in the imputation to the applicant of the unlawful conduct in question
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second part, alleging breach of the principles of the legal and economic autonomy of companies
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Third part, alleging an error relating to the fact that the indicia which the Commission applied in the contested decision
         do not corroborate the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Fourth part, alleging that the Commission was wrong to consider that the applicant had not adduced a body of indicia rebutting
         the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Fifth part, alleging transformation of the presumption of the exercise of decisive influence into an irrebuttable presumption
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second plea, alleging breach of six fundamental principles, resulting from the imputation to the applicant of the unlawful
         conduct in question
      
      First part, alleging breach of the applicant’s rights of defence
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equality of arms
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Third part, alleging breach of the presumption of innocence
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Fourth part, alleging breach of the principle of liability for personal acts and the principle that penalties should be applied
         only to the offender
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Fifth part, alleging breach of the principle that penalties must be strictly defined by law
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Sixth part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Third plea, alleging distortion of the body of indicia submitted by the applicant
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Fourth plea, alleging the existence of contradictions in the grounds of the contested decision
      First part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the application of the concept
         of undertaking within the meaning of Article 81(1) EC
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the applicant’s knowledge of
         the infringement in question
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Third part, alleging a contradiction in the grounds of the contested decision with respect to the nature of the control which
         a parent company exercises over its subsidiary in order to be imputed with the infringement committed by the subsidiary
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Fifth plea, alleging breach of the principle of sound administration
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Sixth plea, alleging breach of the principle of legal certainty
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Seventh plea, alleging misuse of powers
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Eighth plea, alleging that the imposition of a personal fine on the applicant is unfounded
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Ninth plea, alleging breach of the principles and the rules that governed the calculation of the fine imposed jointly and
         severally on Arkema France and the applicant
      
      First part, alleging errors in the calculation of the amount of the fine imposed jointly and severally on Arkema France and
         the applicant
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment in connection with the fine imposed jointly and severally
         on Arkema France and the applicant
      
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Tenth plea, alleging breach of the provisions of the 2002 Leniency Notice
      First part, relating to the refusal to grant a reduction of the fine under the 2002 Leniency Notice
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      Second part, alleging breach of the principle of equal treatment
      –  Arguments of the parties
      –  Findings of the Court
      2.  The claims, submitted in the alternative, for variation of the amount of the fines
      Arguments of the parties
      Findings of the Court
      Costs
      
      * Language of the case: French.