CELEX: C2004/201/37
Language: en
Date: 2004-08-07 00:00:00
Title: Case T-177/04: Action brought on 14 May 2004 by easyJet Airline Company Limited against the Commission of the European Communities

7.8.2004   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 201/17
            
         Action brought on 14 May 2004 by easyJet Airline Company Limited against the Commission of the European Communities
   (Case T-177/04)
   (2004/C 201/37)
   Language of the case: English
   An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 14 May 2004 by easyJet Airline Company Limited, Luton, United Kingdom, represented by Mr J. Cook, Mr S. Dolan and Mr J. Parker Solicitors.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
               —
            
            
               Annul the Commission's Decision of 11 February 2004 in Case No. COMP/M.3280 (Air France/KLM) declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market, subject to conditions, in accordance with Article 6 (1) (b) and Article 6 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4064/89 (1)
               
            
         
               —
            
            
               order the Commission to pay the costs
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments:
   In the contested decision the Commission concluded that the merger between the airlines ‘Air France’ and ‘KLM’ would result in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position on a total of fourteen city-to-city air routes. However, the Commission declared the concentration compatible with the common market, subject to compliance with the undertakings submitted by the parties to the merger.
   The applicant, which is itself an airline company, seeks the annulment of that decision invoking a number of manifest errors of assessment by the Commission. More particularly, it claims that the Commission failed to consider properly the following matters:
   
               —
            
            
               the enhancement of the merged entity's dominance on routes where there was no existing overlap between Air France and KLM;
            
         
               —
            
            
               whether the merger created or strengthened a dominant position in markets for the purchase of airport services;
            
         
               —
            
            
               the effects of the merger on potential competition.
            
         It further claims that the Commission failed to provide adequate reasons to support its conclusion that the airports ‘Charles de Gaulle’ and ‘Orly’ in Paris were substitutable. Finally, it considers that the undertakings of the parties were manifestly inadequate to restore a structure of effective competition on markets where dominance concerns arose and that the Commission committed an error of assessment in accepting them.
   
      (1)  OJ L 257/90, p. 13