CELEX: C2003/264/14
Language: en
Date: 2003-11-01 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 9 September 2003 in Case C-198/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio): Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi (CIF) v Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Competition law — National legislation anti-competitive — National competition authority's power to declare such legislation inapplicable — Circumstances in which undertakings not answerable for anti-competitive conduct)

1.11.2003                 EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                                   C 264/9
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                             —      may impose penalties on the undertakings concerned in
                                                                                           respect of past conduct where the conduct was merely
                                                                                           facilitated or promoted by the national legislation, whilst
                         of 9 September 2003                                               taking due account of the specific features of the legislative
                                                                                           framework in which the undertakings acted;
in Case C-198/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                     2.    It is for the referring court to assess whether national legislation
the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio):                               such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which
Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi (CIF) v Autorità Garante                             competence to fix the retail selling prices of a product is
               della Concorrenza e del Mercato (1)                                  delegated to a ministry and power to allocate production
                                                                                    between undertakings is entrusted to a consortium to which the
                                                                                    relevant producers are obliged to belong, may be regarded,
(Competition law — National legislation anti-competitive                            for the purposes of Article 81(1) EC, as precluding those
— National competition authority’s power to declare such                            undertakings from engaging in autonomous conduct which
legislation inapplicable — Circumstances in which undertak-                         remains capable of preventing, restricting or distorting compe-
       ings not answerable for anti-competitive conduct)                            tition.
                            (2003/C 264/14)                                   (1) OJ C 227 of 11.8.2001.
                      (Language of the case: Italian)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                     in the European Court Reports)
                                                                                                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                          (Sixth Chamber)
In Case C-198/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234                                             of 11 September 2003
EC by the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio
(Italy) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
before that court between Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi (CIF)                in Case C-207/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
and Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, on the                  the Corte d’appello di Firenze): Altair Chimica SpA v
interpretation of Article 81 EC, the Court, composed of:                                           ENEL Distribuzione SpA (1)
G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet
(Rapporteur) and C.W.A. Timmermans (Presidents of Cham-                       (Competition — Dominant position — Supply of electricity
bers), C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann,                                      — Imposition of a ‘sovrapprezzo’)
V. Skouris, S. von Bahr and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges;
F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal Adminis-
trator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 9 September                                            (2003/C 264/15)
2003, in which it has ruled:
                                                                                                     (Language of the case: Italian)
1.    Where undertakings engage in conduct contrary to Article 81(1)
      EC and where that conduct is required or facilitated by national        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
      legislation which legitimises or reinforces the effects of the                                in the European Court Reports)
      conduct, specifically with regard to price-fixing or market-
      sharing arrangements, a national competition authority, one of
      whose responsibilities is to ensure that Article 81 EC is
                                                                              In Case C-207/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234
      observed:
                                                                              EC by the Corte d’appello di Firenze (Italy) for a preliminary
                                                                              ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
      —      has a duty to disapply the national legislation;                 Altair Chimica SpA and ENEL Distribuzione SpA on the
                                                                              interpretation of Articles 81, 82 and 85 EC, Council Directive
                                                                              92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements
      —      may not impose penalties in respect of past conduct on
                                                                              for products subject to excise duty and on the holding,
             the undertakings concerned when the conduct was required
                                                                              movement and monitoring of such products (OJ 1992 L 76,
             by the national legislation;
                                                                              p. 1), as amended by Council Directive 96/99/EC of 30 Decem-
                                                                              ber 1996 (OJ 1997 L 8, p. 12), and Council Recommendation
      —      may impose penalties on the undertakings concerned in            81/924/EEC of 27 October 1981 on electricity tariff structures
             respect of conduct subsequent to the decision to disapply        in the Community (OJ 1981 L 337, p. 12), the Court (Sixth
             the national legislation, once the decision has become           Chamber), composed of: J.-P. Puissochet, President of the
             definitive in their regard;                                      Chamber, R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), V. Skouris, F. Macken