CELEX: C1995/101/35
Language: en
Date: 1995-04-22 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 17 February 1995 by Heidelberger Zement Aktiengesellschaft against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-42/95)

22 . 4 . 95             EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 101 / 17
           applicant bears no relation to the facts upon which       Substantive defects
           it relies;
                                                                     The Commission erred in its demarcation of the relevant
       3 , the Commission erred in its determination of the
                                                                     geographical markets; for that reason alone, its findings
           basis on which the fine was to be imposed .               regarding restriction of competition were incorrect.
                                                                     The Commission sought to bracket together all agreements
                                                                     and practices into a 'single and continuing agreement',
Action brought on 17 February 1995 by Heidelberger                   without stating any reasons therefor . In so doing, it
Zement Aktiengesellschaft against the Commission of the              construed — wrongly in law — a network of ostensible
                      European Communities                           connections, and thus of possible imputations.
                          (Case T-42/95 )                            The conduct of other undertakings or associations of
                           ( 95/C 101 /35                            undertakings cannot be imputed to the applicant as regards
                                                                     membership of an association of undertakings .
                 (Language of the case: German)
                                                                     The Commission is unable to prove the existence of any
An action against the Commission of the European                     'agreement on non-transhipment to domestic markets'. The
Communities was brought before the Court of First                    Commission has no evidence to show that the information
Instance of the European Communities on 17 February                  emerging from the meetings between the Head Delegates
1995 by Heidelberger Zement Aktiengesellschaft of                    was passed on to, and acted upon by, the applicant. No
Heidelberg ( Federal Republic of Germany), represented by            evidence has been adduced to show that the duration of any
Rainer Bechtold, Rechtsanwalt, Stuttgart, and Hans-Jorg              agreement extended beyond 10 June 1985 .
Niemeyer, Rechtsanwalt, Brussels, with an address for
service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Loesch &                    Nor is the Commission able to prove the existence of any
Wolter, 11 Rue Goethe .                                              agreement or concerted practice restricting cross-border
                                                                     trade between Germany and France.
The applicant claims that the Court should :
— annul, pursuant to the second paragraph of Articles 173            The Commission's allegation regarding participation in
     and 174 of the EC Treaty, the Decision of the                   agreements for the setting-up of the European Task Force
     Commission of 30 November 1994 ( Cases IV/33.126                ( ETF ) and a joint trading company, and in concerted
     and 33.322 — Cement), in so far as it concerns the              practices designed to withdraw Calcestruzzi as a customer
     applicant,                                                      from the Greek producers, are based solely on the presence
                                                                     of Heidelberger Zement at a meeting in Rome . Nothing
— in the alternative, pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation           impermissible was discussed or predetermined at that
     No 17 of 6 February 1962, vary Article 9 of the decision,       meeting. The Commission is unable to adduce any other
     in so far as it concerns the applicant, so as to cancel or      evidence .
     considerably reduce the fine imposed on the
     applicant,                                                      The Commission has not given reasons for the size of the
                                                                     fine imposed on the applicant. Furthermore, it has failed to
— order the Commission, pursuant to Article 87 ( 2 ) of the          fulfil its obligation to determine the amount of fines on an
     Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, to pay       individual basis, in that it failed to take into consideration
     the costs of the proceedings necessarily incurred by the        the individual conduct of Heidelberger Zement and its
     applicant.                                                      position within the alleged cartel . Consequently, the fine has
                                                                     been invalidly imposed .
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Procedural defects
The applicant objects that the statement of objections
communicated to it was incomplete and unclear . It was
expressed in such blanket terms ('the European cement
producers ') that the applicant was unable to identify               Action brought on 20 February 1995 by Aalborg
specifically which aspects of its conduct were the subject of        Portland A/S against the Commission of the European
                                                                                                Communities
complaint.
                                                                                             ( Case T-44/95 )
The grant of access to the documentation was dealt with in a
                                                                                               ( 95/C 101 /36 )
discriminatory way. It was limited merely to part of the
documentation, without adequate reasons being given.
                                                                                     (Language of tbe case: Danish)
From the outset, the periods prescribed for replying to the
statement of objections were too short.
                                                                     An action against the Commission of the European
At the oral hearing, the applicant's right to participate, and       Communities was brought before the Court of First
to an even greater extent its right to make oral statements,         Instance of the European Communities on 20 February
was restricted .                                                     1995 by Aalborg Portland A/S, Aalborg (Denmark),