CELEX: C2003/264/02
Language: en
Date: 2003-11-01 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 9 September 2003 in Case C-137/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (England & Wales), Queen's Bench Division (Crown Office): The Queen v The Competition Commission, formerly The Monopolies and Mergers Commission, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, The Director General of Fair Trading, ex parte: Milk Marque Ltd, National Farmers' Union, third party: Dairy Industry Federation (DIF) (Common agricultural policy — Articles 32 EC to 38 EC — Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 — Common organisation of the market in milk and milk products — Target price for milk — Regulation No 26 — Application of certain competition rules to the production of and trade in agricultural products — Whether Member States may apply national competition rules to milk producers who choose to organise themselves into cooperatives and hold market power)

C 264/2               EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                             1.11.2003
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                     1.   Articles 32 to 38 EC, Council Regulation No 26 of 4 April
                                                                              1962 applying certain rules of competition to production of
                                                                              and trade in agricultural products and Regulation (EEC)
                                                                              No 804/68 of the Council of 27 June 1968 on the common
                    of 9 September 2003                                       organisation of the market in milk and milk products, as
                                                                              amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1587/96 of 30 July
                                                                              1996, must be interpreted as meaning that, in the sector
in Case C-137/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                     governed by the common organisation of the market in milk
the High Court of Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s                          and milk products, the national authorities in principle retain
Bench Division (Crown Office): The Queen v The Compe-                         jurisdiction to apply national competition law to a milk
tition Commission, formerly The Monopolies and Merg-                          producers’ cooperative in a powerful position on the national
ers Commission, Secretary of State for Trade and Indus-                       market.
try, The Director General of Fair Trading, ex parte: Milk
Marque Ltd, National Farmers’ Union, third party: Dairy
                Industry Federation (DIF) (1)
                                                                              Where the national competition authorities act in the sector
                                                                              governed by the common organisation of the market in milk
                                                                              and milk products, they are under an obligation to refrain from
(Common agricultural policy — Articles 32 EC to 38 EC —                       adopting any measure which might undermine or create
Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 — Common organisation of                           exceptions to that common organisation.
the market in milk and milk products — Target price
for milk — Regulation No 26 — Application of certain
competition rules to the production of and trade in agricul-
tural products — Whether Member States may apply                              Measures taken by national competition authorities in the sector
national competition rules to milk producers who choose to                    governed by the common organisation of the market in milk
organise themselves into cooperatives and hold market                         and milk products may not, in particular, produce effects which
                             power)                                           are such as to impede the working of the machinery provided
                                                                              for by that common organisation. However, the mere fact that
                                                                              the prices charged by a dairy cooperative were already lower
                                                                              than the target price for milk before those authorities intervened
                        (2003/C 264/02)                                       is not sufficient to render the measures taken by them in relation
                                                                              to that cooperative in application of national competition law
                                                                              unlawful under Community law.
                 (Language of the case: English)
                                                                              Furthermore, such measures may not compromise the objectives
                                                                              of the common agricultural policy as set out in Article 33(1) EC.
                                                                              The national competition authorities are under an obligation to
                                                                              ensure that any contradictions between the various objectives
In Case C-137/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234                    laid down in Article 33 EC are reconciled where necessary,
EC by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Queen’s                 without giving any one of them so much weight as to render
Bench Division (Crown Office) for a preliminary ruling in the                 the achievement of the others impossible.
proceedings pending before that court between The Queen
and The Competition Commission, formerly The Monopolies
and Mergers Commission, Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry, The Director General of Fair Trading, ex parte: Milk
Marque Ltd, National Farmers’ Union, third party: Dairy
Industry Federation (DIF), on the interpretation of Articles 12,         2.   The function of the target price for milk laid down in
28 to 30, 32 to 38, 49 and 55 EC, of Council Regulation                       Article 3(1) of Regulation No 804/68, as amended by
No 26 of 4 April 1962 applying certain rules of competition                   Regulation No 1587/96, does not preclude the national
to production of and trade in agricultural products (OJ, English              competition authorities from using that price for the purposes
Special Edition 1959-1962, p. 129) and of Regulation (EEC)                    of investigating the market power of an agricultural undertaking
No 804/68 of the Council of 27 June 1968 on the common                        by comparing variations in actual prices with the target price.
organisation of the market in milk and milk products (OJ,
English Special Edition 1968 (I), p. 176), as amended by
Council Regulation (EC) No 1587/96 of 30 July 1996 (OJ
1996 L 206, p. 21), the Court, composed of: M. Wathelet,
President of the First and Fifth Chambers, acting as President,          3.   In the context of the application of national competition law,
R. Schintgen and C.W.A. Timmermans (Presidents of Cham-                       the Treaty rules on the free movement of goods do not preclude
bers), C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann,                     the competent authorities of a Member State from prohibiting
V. Skouris (Rapporteur), F. Macken, N. Colneric, and J.N. Cunha               a dairy cooperative which enjoys market power from entering
Rodrigues, Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate General; L. Hewlett,               into contracts with undertakings, including undertakings estab-
Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment              lished in other Member States, for the processing, on its behalf,
on 9 September 2003, in which it has ruled:                                   of milk produced by its members.
 ---pagebreak--- 1.11.2003                EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                               C 264/3
4.    Article 12 EC and the second subparagraph of Article 34(2)                              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
      EC do not preclude the adoption of measures such as those at
      issue in the main proceedings against a dairy cooperative which
      enjoys market power and exploits that position in a manner                                      (Sixth Chamber)
      contrary to the public interest, even though large vertically-
      integrated dairy cooperatives are permitted to operate in other
      Member States.
                                                                                                   of 18 September 2003
(1) OJ C 176 of 24.6.2000.
                                                                                         in Case C-338/00 P: Volkswagen AG (1)
                                                                             (Appeal — Competition — Distribution of motor vehicles
                                                                             — Partitioning of the market — Article 85 of the EC Treaty
                                                                             (now Article 81 EC) — Regulation (EEC) No 123/85
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                      — Whether the infringement can be attributed to the
                                                                             undertaking concerned — Right to a fair hearing — Duty to
                           (Fifth Chamber)                                   state reasons — Legal consequences of disclosure to the press
                                                                             — Effect of propriety of the notification on the calculation
                       of 18 September 2003                                                     of the fine — Cross-appeal)
in Case C-331/00: Hellenic Republic v Commission of the
                    European Communities (1)                                                          (2003/C 264/04)
(EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Financial years 1996,
1997 and 1998 — Arable crops — Beef — Aid for early                                             (Language of the case: German)
                              retirement)
                          (2003/C 264/03)                                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                                in the European Court Reports)
                     (Language of the case: Greek)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)
                                                                             In Case C-338/00 P, Volkswagen AG, established in Wolfsburg
                                                                             (Germany) (represented by R. Bechtold): Appeal against the
                                                                             judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European
In Case C-331/00, Hellenic Republic (Agents: V. Kontolaimos                  Communities (Fourth Chamber) of 6 July 2000 in Case T-62/
and I. K. Chalkias, as well as by C. Tsiavou) v Commission of                98 Volkswagen v Commission [2000] ECR II-2707, seeking
the European Communities (Agent: M. Condou-Durande):                         to have that judgment set aside in part, the other party to the
Application for partial annulment of Commission Decision                     proceedings being: Commission of the European Communities
2000/449/EC of 5 July 2000 excluding from Community                          (Agent: K. Wiedner, assisted by H.-J. Freund), the Court (Sixth
financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States                  Chamber), composed of: J.-P. Puissochet, President of the
under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural                     Chamber, C. Gulmann, V. Skouris (Rapporteur), F. Macken
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ 2000 L 180,                          and N. Colneric, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate
p. 49), in so far as its concerns the Hellenic Republic, the Court           General; M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Regis-
(Fifth Chamber), composed of: D.A.O. Edward (Rapporteur),                    trar, has given a judgment on 18 September 2003, in which it:
acting for the President of the Fifth Chamber, A. La Pergola,
P. Jann, S. von Bahr and A. Rosas, Judges; A. Tizzano, Advocate
General; M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Regis-               1.    Dismisses the main appeal and the cross-appeal;
trar, has given a judgment on 18 September 2003, in which it:
1.    Dismisses the application;                                             2.    Orders each party to bear its own costs.
2.    Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                             (1) OJ C 335 of 25.11.2000.
(1) OJ C 355 of 9.12.2000.