CELEX: C1998/209/75
Language: en
Date: 1998-07-04 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE of 14 May 1998 in Case T-347/94: Mayr-Melnhof Kartongesellschaft mbH v. Commission of the European Communities (Competition - Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty - Concept of agreement - Information exchange - Order - Fine - Determination of the amount - Statement of reasons - Extenuating circumstances - Rights of the defence - Cooperation during the administrative procedure - Principle of equal treatment)

4.7.98                  EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    C 209/35
Wolter, 11 Rue Goethe, v. Commission of the European                  Mills Ltd, established at Valkeakoski, Finland, Tampella
Communities (Agents: Bernd Langeheine, Richard Lyal                   Corporation, established at Tampere, Finland, Oy Kyro
and Dirk Schroeder) Ð application for annulment of                    AB, established at Kyröskoski, Finland, represented
Commission Decision 94/601/EC of 13 July 1994 relating                initially by Hans Hellmann and Hans-Joachim Voges,
to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/              Rechtsanwälte, Cologne, then by Hans Hellmann and
33.833 Ð Cartonboard, OJ L 243 of 19.9.1994, p. 1) Ð                  Hans-Joachim Hellmann, Rechtsanwälte, Karlsruhe, with
the Court (Third Chamber, Extended Composition),                      an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
composed of B. Vesterdorf, President of the Chamber, C. P.            Loesch and Wolter, 11 Rue Goethe v. Commission of the
BrieÈt, P. Lindh, A. Potocki, and J. D. Cooke, Judges; J.             European       Communities      (Agents:   initially    Bernd
Palacio GonzaÂlez, Administrator, for the Registrar, has              Langeheine and Richard Lyal, then by Richard Lyal and
given a judgment on 14 May 1998 in which it:                          Dirk Schroeder) Ð application for annulment of
                                                                      Commission Decision 94/601/EC of 13 July 1994 relating
1. Annuls, as regards the applicant, the first to fourth              to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/
     paragraphs of Article 2 of Commission Decision 94/               33.833 Ð Cartonboard, OJ L 243 of 19.9.1994, p. 1) Ð
     601/EC of 13 July 1994 relating to a proceeding under            the Court (Third Chamber, Extended Composition),
     Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð                       composed of: B. Vesterdorf, President of the Chamber,
     Cartonboard) save and except the following passages:             C. P. BrieÈt, P. Lindh, A. Potocki and J. D. Cooke, Judges;
                                                                      J. Palacio GonzaÂlez, Administrator, for the Registrar, has
                                                                      given a judgment on 14 May 1998, in which it:
     The undertakings named in Article 1 shall forthwith
     bring the said infringement to an end, if they have not
     already done so. They shall henceforth refrain in                1. Dismisses the applications as unfounded in so far as
     relation to their cartonboard activities from any                     they seek annulment of Commission Decision 94/601/
     agreement or concerted practice which may have the                    EC of 13 July 1994 relating to a proceeding under
     same or a similar object or effect, including any                     Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð
     exchange of commercial information:                                   Cartonboard).
     (a) by which the participants are directly or
           indirectly informed of the production, sales, order        2. Dismisses the applications as inadmissible in so far as
           backlog, machine utilisation rates, selling prices,             they seek reduction of the fine imposed by Article 3 of
           costs or marketing plans of other individual                    that decision.
           producers.
     Any scheme for the exchange of general information               3. Orders the applicants to pay the costs.
     to which they subscribe, such as the Fides sytem or its
     successor, shall be so conducted as to exclude any               (1) OJ C 386, 31.12.1994.
     information from which the behaviour of individual
     producers can be identified.'.
2. Dismisses the application as regards the remaining
     claims.
3. Orders the applicant to pay the costs.                               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
                                                                                             of 14 May 1998
(1) OJ C 380, 31.12.1994.
                                                                      in Case T-347/94: Mayr-Melnhof Kartongesellschaft mbH
                                                                             v. Commission of the European Communities (1)
                                                                      (Competition Ð Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty Ð
                                                                      Concept of agreement Ð Information exchange Ð Order
                                                                      Ð Fine Ð Determination of the amount Ð Statement of
  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE                             reasons Ð Extenuating circumstances Ð Rights of the
                         of 14 May 1998                               defence Ð Cooperation during the administrative
                                                                                procedure Ð Principle of equal treatment)
in Joined Cases T-339/94, T-340/94, T-341/94 and
T-342/94: Metsä-Serla Oy and Others v. Commission of                                          (98/C 209/75)
                  the European Communities (1)
(Article 15(2) of Regulation No 17 Ð Joint and several                                (Language of the case: German)
                liability for payment of the fine)
                           (98/C 209/74)                              In Case T-347/94: Mayr-Melnhof Kartongesellschaft mbH,
                                                                      established at Vienna, represented initially by Otfried
                (Language of the case: German)                        Lieberknecht,       Burkhard     Richter,  Klaus       Benner,
                                                                      Rechtsanwälte, Düsseldorf, and by Michel Waelbroeck
In Joined Cases T-339/94, T-340/94, T-341/94 and T-342/               and Denis Waelbroeck, of the Brussels Bar, with an
94: Metsä-Serla Oy, established at Helsinki, United Paper             address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
 ---pagebreak--- C 209/36              EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                       4.7.98
Alex Bonn, 7 Val Sainte-Croix v. Commission of the                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
European Communities (Agents: Bernd Langeheine,
                                                                                            of 14 May 1998
Richard Lyal and Dirk Schroeder) Ð application for
annulment of Commission Decision 94/601/EC of 13 July              in Case T-348/94: Enso EspanÄola SA v. Commission of the
1994 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC                              European Communities (1)
Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð Cartonboard, OJ L 243 of
19.9.1994, p. 1) Ð the Court (Third Chamber, Extended              (Competition Ð Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty Ð Right
Composition), composed of: B. Vesterdorf, President of             to an independant and impartial tribunal Ð Right of the
the Chamber, C. P. BrieÈt, P. Lindh, A. Potocki and J. D.          defence Ð Statement of reasons Ð Fine Ð Determination
Cooke, Judges; J. Palacio GonzaÂlez, Administrator, for the        of the amount Ð Method of calculation Ð Mitigating
Registrar, has given a judgment on 14 May 1998, in                 circumstances Ð Principle of equal treatment Ð Principle
which it:                                                                                  of proportionality)
                                                                                             (98/C 209/76)
1. Annuls, as regards the applicant, the first to fourth
    paragraphs of Article 2 of Commission Decision 94/                             (Language of the case: Spanish)
    601/EC of 13 July 1994 relating to a proceeding under
    Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð
    Cartonboard) save and except the following passages:           In Case T-348/94: Enso EspanÄola SA, established at
                                                                   Castellbisbal, Barcelona, Spain, represented initially by
                                                                   Antonio Creus Carreras and Xavier Ruiz Calzado, of the
    The undertakings named in Article 1 shall forthwith           Brussels Bar, and Bonifacio García Porras, of the
    bring the said infringement to an end, if they have not        Salamanca Bar, then by Messrs. Creus Carreras, Ruiz Cal-
    already done so. They shall henceforth refrain in              zado and Eva Contreras Ynzenga, of the Madrid Bar v.
    relation to their cartonboard activities from any              Commission of the European Communities (Agents:
    agreement or concerted practice which may have the             initially Francisco Enrique GonzaÂlez Díaz and Richard
    same or a similar object or effect, including any              Lyal, then Richard Lyal and Ricardo Garcia Vicente) Ð
    exchange of commercial information:                            application for annulment of Commission Decision 94/
                                                                   601/EC of 13 July 1994 relating to a proceeding under
                                                                   Article 85 of the EC Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð Cartonboard,
    (a) by which the participants are directly or
                                                                   OJ L 243 of 19.9.1994, p. 1), the Court (Third Chamber,
          indirectly informed of the production, sales, order
                                                                   Extended Composition), composed of B. Vesterdorf,
          backlog, machine utilisation rates, selling prices,
                                                                   President of the Chamber, C. P. BrieÈt, P. Lindh, A. Potocki
          costs or marketing plans of other individual
                                                                   and J. D. Cooke, Judges; J. Palacio GonzaÂlez,
          producers.
                                                                   Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
                                                                   14 May 1998 in which it:
    Any scheme for the exchange of general information
    to which they subscribe, such as the Fides system or its       1. Annuls, as regards the applicant, Article 1 of
    successor, shall be so conducted as to exclude any                  Commission Decision 94/601/EC of 13 July 1994
    information from which the behaviour of individual                  relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC
    producers can be identified.'.                                      Treaty (IV/C/33.833 Ð Cartonboard) in so far as the
                                                                        date of the beginning of the infringement alleged
                                                                        against it is stated to be prior to February 1989.
2. Sets the amount of the fine imposed on the
    applicant by Article 3 of Decision 94/601/EC at ECU
    17 000 000.                                                    2. Annuls, as regards the applicant, the eighth indent of
                                                                        Article 1 of Decision 94/601/EC.
3. Dismisses the application as regards the remaining
    claims.                                                        3. Sets the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant
                                                                        by Article 3 of Decision 94/601/EC at ECU 1 200 000.
4. Orders the Commission to pay its own costs and one-
    quarter of the applicant's costs.                              4. Dismisses the application as regards the remaining
                                                                        claims.
5. Orders the applicant to bear three-quarters of its own
    costs.                                                         5. Orders each party to bear its own costs.
(1) OJ 386, 31.12.1994.                                            (1) OJ C 380, 31.12.1994.