natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Idet foreliggende tilfælde havde sagsøgeren, en rådgivningsvirksomhed, udført forskellige tjenester til tre producenter af organiske peroxider og spillet en væsentlig rolle i kartellet mellem disse tre producenter ved at tilrettelægge møder og skjule beviser for overtrædelsen.
In this instance, the applicant, a consultancy firm, had provided various services to three producers of organic peroxides and had played an essential role in the cartel between those producers by organising meetings and covering up evidence of the infringement.
Retten til forsvar og retten til en retfærdig rettergang
Rights of the defence and right to a fair hearing
I samme dom fastslog Retten, at Kommissionen, når den første undersøgelsesforanstaltning træffes over for en virksomhed, som f.eks. en begæring om oplysninger, er forpligtet til at underrette denne om de formodede overtrædelser, som er genstand for den iværksatte undersøgelse, og om, at dette kan indebære, at Kommissionen må fremsætte klagepunkter mod den pågældende virksomhed.
In that same judgment, the Court held that, when the first investigation measure is taken in respect of an undertaking, such as a request for information, the Commission is required to inform that undertaking of the putative infringements concerned by the investigation and of the fact that the Commission might have to impute to that undertaking unlawful conduct.
Idet foreliggende tilfælde fandt Retten dog, at Kommissionens undladelse i denne forbindelse ikke kan medføre, at den anfægtede beslutning annulleres, da denne uregelmæssighed ikke svækkede effektiviteten af sagsøgerens forsvar.
In this instance, however, the Court held that the Commission’s omission in this respect could not lead to the annulment of the contested decision, since that irregularity did not adversely affect the efficiency of the applicant’s defence.
I dommen af 18. juni 2008, Hoechst mod Kommissionen (sag T-410/03, endnu ikke trykt i Samling af Afgørelser), udøvede Retten sin fulde prøvelsesret vedrørende to aspekter.
Second, the Court held that the Commission erred in applying the aggravating circumstance of leader of the cartel against Hoechst, without however characterising sufficiently clearly and precisely in the statement of objections the facts alleged against it.
Den fandt for det første, at Kommissionen tilsidesatte princippet om god forvaltningsskik og ligebehandlingsprincippet.
Moreover, certain facts identified by the Commission did not make it possible to conclude with sufficient precision that the objection of leader would be found as against Hoechst.
Selv om den således klart udtrykte, at den ikke agtede at underrettede virksomheder, der samarbejdede, herunder navnlig Hoechst, om, at andre virksomheder havde henvendt sig til Kommissionens tjenestegrene med henblik på at opnå
The Court concluded from this that Hoechst was not in a position to defend itself properly.
Retten iFørsteInstans bødeimmunitet, forsikrede den samtidig en anden virksomhed om, at den ville blive givet en »passende advarsel«, hvis en anden virksomhed forsøgte at komme for anden i relation til samarbejde.
Court ofFirstInstance following a request for information, but going beyondwhat the Commission requested, additional information confirming the existence of the cartel.
Idet foreliggende tilfælde nedsatte Retten, i betragtning af, hvor stor vægt Kommissionen lægger på, at princippet om god forvaltningsskik og ligebehandlingsprincippet overholdes, den bøde, der blev pålagt Hoechst, med 10%.
Consequently, that information was able to strengthen substantially the Commission’s arguments concerning the existence of an overall plan and thus made it possible to increase substantially the amount of the fines in respect of the gravity of the infringement.
Retten fandt for det andet, at Kommissionen begik en fejl ved at foreholde Hoechst den skærpende omstændighed at have spillet en førende rolle i kartellet, dog uden klart og præcist i klagepunktsmeddelelsen at kvalificerede faktiske omstændigheder, som blev gjort gældende mod selskabet.
In Case T-69/04 Schunk and Schunk Kohlenstoff-Technik v Commission (judgment of 8 October 2008) and Case T-73/04 Carbone Lorraine v Commission (judgment of 8 October 2008, under appeal), the Court recalled that, in the case of a price cartel, the Commission may legitimately infer that the infringement had effects from the fact that the cartel members took measures to apply the agreed prices.
I øvrigt gav bestemte faktiske omstændigheder, som Kommissionen lagde til grund, ikke grundlag for med tilstrækkelig klarhed at konkludere, at klagepunktet om Hoechsts førende rolle ville blive gjort gældende mod selskabet.
On the other hand, the Court held that the Commission cannot be required, where the implementation of a cartel has been established, systematically to demonstrate that the agreements in fact enabled the undertakings concerned to achieve a higher level of transaction prices than that which would have prevailed in the absence of a cartel.
Retten udledte heraf, at Hoechst ikke kunne forsvare sig på fyldestgørende måde.
In order to assess the gravity of the infringement, the decisive point is whether the cartel members did all they could to give concrete effect to their intentions.
I dommen af 8. juli 2008, BPB mod Kommissionen (sag T-53/03, endnu ikke trykt i Samling af Afgørelser), fastslog Retten, at den nedsættelse af bøden, Kommissionen indrømmede for BPB’s samarbejde, ikke var tilstrækkelig stor, for så vidt som sidstnævnte var den første af karteldeltagerne, som efter en begæring om oplysninger fra Kommissionen, men på en måde, som gik ud over anmodningen, udleverede informationer, der supplerede de informationer, som bekræftede kartellets eksistens.
In addition, the Court found that, even though, in the application, Schunk disputed for the first time before it facts which had been raised against it in the statement of objections and on which the finding of an infringement of Article 81 EC was based, there were no grounds for cancelling the minimum reduction of 10 % allowed to Schunk on the basis of the leniency notice (15), as the Commission requested.
Disse forhold styrkede herefter i væsentlig grad Kommissionens argumenter vedrørende eksistensen af en overordnet plan og gjorde det således muligt at forhøje bøden væsentligt på grund af overtrædelsens grovhed.
The Court observed that the challenges at issue were rejected pursuant to the case-law under which facts which an undertaking has expressly acknowledged during the administrative procedure are to be regarded as established, that undertaking being barred from putting forward pleas disputing those facts in proceedings before the Court.
Retten indrømmede herefter BPB en yderligere nedsættelse på 10% af bøden.
Concept of group and setting of the 10 % ceiling on the amount of the fine
Retten fandt især, at selv om det er korrekt, at den omstændighed, at selskabskapitalen i særskilte erhvervsdrivende selskaber tilhører samme person eller samme familie, ikke i sig selv er tilstrækkelig til at bevise, at der består en økonomisk enhed mellem disse selskaber, hvilket har til følge, at det ene selskabs adfærd kan tilregnes det andet, og at det ene selskab kan være forpligtet til at betale en bøde for det andet, er det muligt at fastslå eksistensen af en økonomisk enhed under hensyn til en lang række omstændigheder.
Proceedings capital of separate commercial companies is held by the same person or the same family is insufficient, in itself, to establish that those companies area single economic unit with the result that the actions of one company can be attributed to the other and that one can be held liable to pay the fine for the other, it is possible to reach the conclusion that an economic unit exists on the basis of a series of elements.
Retten pegede navnlig på, at begrebet virksomhed skal forstås som en økonomisk enhed i relation til den pågældende aftale, også når denne økonomiske enhed juridisk set udgøres af flere fysiske eller juridiske personer.
The Court also recalled in particular that the term‘undertaking’must be understood as designating an economic unit for the purpose of the subject matter of the agreement in question even if in law that economic unit consists of several persons, natural or legal.
Ansvar for ulovlig adfærd
Imputability of the unlawful conduct
Retten anvendte i 2008 bl.a. dens retspraksis vedrørende ansvar for ulovlig adfærd i den ovennævnte dom i sagen Knauf Gipsmod Kommissionen.Den bemærkede i denne forbindelse, at det er muligt at pålægge et selskab ansvaret for hele koncernens adfærd, hvis dette selskaber blevet identificeret som den juridiske person, der i spidsen for koncernen var ansvarlig for samordningen af koncernens aktiviteter.
During 2008, the Court inter alia applied its case-law on the imputability of the unlawful conduct in Knauf Gips v Commission. It recalled in this respect that it is possible to impute to a company all of the acts of a group if that company has been identified as the legal person at the head of that group with responsibility for its coordination.
Bidrag vedrørende artikel 82 EF
Points raised on the scope of Article 82 EC
Retten bemærkede i denne forbindelse, at hvis lovligheden af en dominerende virksomheds priser afhang af konkurrerende virksomheders særlige situation, og herunder navnlig deres omkostningsstruktur – oplysninger, den dominerende virksomhed normalt ikke kender – ville den dominerende virksomhed nemlig ikke kunne vurdere, om dens egen adfærd var lovlig.
Court ofFirstInstance lawfulness of the pricing practices of a dominant undertaking depended on the particular situation of competing undertakings, and particularly their cost structure — information which is generally not known to the dominant undertaking— the latter would not be in a position to assess the lawfulness of its own activities.
Retten bemærkede endelig, at de nationale myndigheders beføjelser i henhold til de fællesskabsretlige bestemmelser om telekommunikation ikke berører Kommissionens beføjelse til at fastslå overtrædelser af konkurrenceretten.
Lastly, the Court recalled that the prerogatives of the national authorities under Community telecommunications law do not affect the Commission’s powers to find infringements of competition law.
Kommissionens beslutning kan derfor ikke kritiseres for at indebære en dobbelt regulering af Deutsche Telekoms afgifter ved at sanktionere selskabet for ikke at have anvendt sit råderum til at eliminere prispresset.
The Commission’s decision cannot therefore be criticised for entailing double regulation of Deutsche Telekom’s pricing practices by punishing the company for not using its discretion to end themargin squeeze.
Retspraksis i år præciserer bl.a. begreberne med hensyn til for det første en person, der er individuelt berørt af en beslutning fra Kommissionen om en støtteordning, for det andet en retsakt med bindende retsvirkninger og for det tredje søgsmålsinteresse.
The case-law this year has further clarified in particular the concepts of, first, a person individually concerned by a Commission decision relating to an aid scheme, second, an act producing binding legal effects and, third, a legal interest in bringing proceedings.
Arbejdet til realitetsbehandling.
Proceedings
Selv omenbeslutning om en støtteordning således finder generel anvendelse, er det at tilhøre en lukket kreds af faktiske modtagere i henhold til denne støtteordning, der er fuldt ud identificerbare og særlig berørt af forpligtelsen til at tilbagesøge statsstøtten, tilstrækkeligt til at udsondre hver af disse modtagere fra enhver anden person.
Commission to examine the compatibility of the measure in question with the common market and also triggered the application of the procedure for existing State aid schemes and, second, was able to have an impact on the grant of new aid as a result of the rules on overlapping aid from different sources laid down inter alia in the Community guidelines on State aid for environmental protection (16).
Hvis den søgsmålskompetence, som en faktisk støttemodtager i henhold til en støtteordninger i besiddelse af, som hævdet af Kommissionen var betinget af en gennemgang af støttemodtagerens individuelle situation i Kommissionens beslutning, som fastslog, at den pågældende støtte er uforenelig, ville denne søgsmålskompetence afhænge af denne institutions valg om ikke at foretage en individuel undersøgelse på baggrund af de oplysninger, som den bliver meddelt under den administrative procedure.
As regards a legal interest in bringing proceedings, the Court stated, in Case T-301/01 Alitalia v Commission (judgment of 9 July 2008), that Alitalia, an undertaking which had received a capital injection classified by the Commission as State aid compatible with the common market subject to compliance with certain conditions, retained a personal interest in the annulment of that decision, even after it had received all of that aid following another Commission decision.
Denne løsning ville medføre retsusikkerhed, for så vidt som det ofte vil være tilfældigt, at Kommissionen har kendskab til konkrete individuelle situationer.
Since the contested decision formed the legal basis of the decision authorising the payment of the final instalment of the aid, the second decision would have had no legal basis if the Court had annulled the contested decision on the ground that it classified the measure at issue as State aid.
Med hensyn til begrebet en retsakt med bindende retsvirkninger fastslog Retten i dommen af 10. april 2008, Nederlandene mod Kommissionen (sag T-233/04, endnu ikke trykt i Samling af Afgørelser og appelleret til Domstolen), vedrørende en beslutning fra Kommissionen, hvori en ordning for omsættelige emissionsrettigheder for nitrogenoxid, anmeldt af Kongeriget Nederlandene, blev kvalificeret som forenelig med fællesmarkedet, at denne medlemsstat, som havde anmodet Kommissionen om at fastslå, at den pågældende ordning ikke udgjorde statsstøtte, har kompetence til at anfægte den pågældende beslutning.
Concerning the legal interest in bringing proceedings of a beneficiary of aid declared by the Commission to be partially compatible with the common market, the Court held, in Joined Cases T-309/04, T-317/04, T-329/04 and T-336/04 TV 2/Danmark andOthers v Commission (judgment of 22 October 2008), that the way in which the Commission examined the compatibility of the aid at issue precluded examining the admissibility of the action by dividing the contested decision into two parts, the first classifying the contested measures as State aid which was partly incompatible with the common market and the second classifying those measures as State aid which was partly compatible.
Medlemsstaten skal som privilegeret sagsøger ikke godtgøre, at der foreligger søgsmålsinteresse, men alene, at den anfægtede beslutning har retsvirkninger.
The Commission examined whether, taken as a whole, the State funding measures at issue represented a sum exceeding the net cost of a service of general economic interest.
Indrømmelse af en økonomisk fordel
(b) Selective nature of aid
I ovennævnte dom i sagen Hotel Ciprianim.fl. mod Kommissionen gjorde de virksomheder, der opnåede fritagelse for sociale bidrag, gældende, at denne fritagelse ikke medførte nogen økonomisk fordel for dem, idet de opvejede de ekstraomkostninger, der var forbundet med de strukturelle ulemper idet laguneområde, hvori de var beliggende.
In any case, even if the measure in question differentiates between undertakings and is, therefore, in principle selective, that differentiation would arise from the nature or overall structure of the scheme of which it is part and would not therefore fulfil the condition of selectivity.
Retten fastslog, at virksomhederne ikke har bevist, at der foreligger en direkte sammenhæng mellem de ekstraomkostninger, der faktisk er afholdt, og størrelsen af den støtte, der er modtaget.
Indeed, ecological considerations justify distinguishing undertakings which from other undertakings.
En støtteforanstaltnings selektive karakter
emit large quantities of NOx
I ovennævnte dom i sagen Nederlandene mod Kommissionen fastslog Retten, at ordnin- gen for omsættelige emissionsrettigheder for nitrogenoxid (NOx), indført af Kongeriget Nederlandene, ikke udgør en statsstøtte.
On the other hand, in SIC vCommission, the Court held that the Commission had not established to the requisite legal standard that certain advantages from which the RTP benefited (exemption from notarial charges, registration charges and the costs of publication relating to that undertaking’s transformation into a public limited company by way of legislation) did not fulfil the condition of selectivity on the ground that they were justified by the nature or the general logic of the system of which they were a part.
Således er alle industrivirksomheder i Nederlan- dene, som har en eksisterende kapacitet, der overstiger en bestemt tærskel, uden hen- syntagen til geografiske eller sektorspecifikke faktorer, for det første underlagt NOx-emis- sionslofter, der er fastsat ved den omhandlede ordning, og dekan alle nyde ordningens fordel med omsættelige emissionsrettigheder, der er omhandlet i denne foranstaltning.
Second, the Commission ought to have established whether it was consistent with the logic of the Portuguese legal system for the RTP’s transformation into a public limited company to occur not in the normal way laid down for private companies, in other words, by a notarial deed (with all the consequences that entails under the general law concerning registration requirements and publication), but by legislation.
I kraft af at være rettet mod de mest forurenende virksomheder anvender den pågældende ordning et objektivt kriterium i overensstemmelse med målet om beskyttelse af miljøet.
Joined Cases T-211/04 and T-215/04 Government of Gibraltar and UnitedKingdom v Commission (judgment of 18 December 2008) enabled the Court to clarify further the condition of selectivity.
For det andet må det konstateres, at det kun påhviler de virksomheder, der er omfattet af ordningen, under bødeansvar at overholde en emissionsstandard eller streng præstationsstandard.
In August 2002, the UnitedKingdom notified the Commission of the Government of Gibraltar’s envisaged reform of corporate tax, which included the establishment of three taxes: a registration fee, a payroll tax and a business property occupation tax (‘the BPOT’), on the basis that liability to the latter two taxes would be capped at 15 % of profits.
Det må derfor konstateres, at den faktiske og retlige situation for de virk- somheder, der er underlagt NOx-emissionsloft, ikke kan anses for sammenlignelig med situationen for de virksomheder, for hvilke dette loft ikke finder anvendelse.
The Commission considered that that reform was regionally selective since it provided that companies located in Gibraltar would be taxed at a lower rate than those located in the UnitedKingdom .
Uanset om den omhandlede ordning indfører en sondring mellem virksomheder og derfor principielt er selektiv, følger denne sondring af det systems karakter eller opbygning, som ordningen er en del af, og opfylder derfor ikke betingelsen om selektivitet.
It also found that three aspects of the tax reform were materially selective: first, the requirement that a company must make a profit before it becomes liable to payroll tax and BPOT, since that requirement favours companies which make no profit; second, the cap limiting liability to payroll tax and BPOT to 15 % of profits, since that cap favours companies which, for the tax year in question, have profits that are low in relation to their number of employees and occupation of business property; and, third, the payroll tax and BPOT, since those two taxes inherently favour companies which have no real physical presence in Gibraltar.
Økologiske hensyn begrun- der således, at der sondres mellem virksomheder med udledninger af store mængder NOx og andre virksomheder.
Applying the conditions set out in the case-law relating to aid granted by infra-State bodies (17), the Court held that the reference framework for assessing whether the tax reform
Sagen Government of Gibraltar og DetForenedeKongerige mod Kommissionen (dom af 18.12.2008, forenede sager T-211/04 og T-215/04, endnu ikke trykt i Samling af Afgørelser) gav Retten mulighed for at give nye præciseringer vedrørende betingelsen om selektivitet.
With regard to material selectivity, the Court noted that classification of a tax measure as selective requires a three-stage analysis.
I august 2002 underrettede DetForenedeKongerige Kommissionen om den reform, som Gibraltars regering påtænkte at gennemføre vedrørende selskabsbeskatningen, hvilket omfattede indførelsen af t reformer for beskatning: en registreringsafgift, en skat på antallet af ansatte (lønskat) og en formueskat (business property occupation tax, herefter »BPOT«), idet det o sidstnævnte former for beskatning er begrænset til 15% af overskuddet.
The Commission must begin by identifying and examining the‘normal’regime under the tax system applicable in the geographical area constituting the relevant reference framework. It is in relation to this‘normal’tax regime that the Commission must, secondly, determine whether any advantage granted by the tax measure at issue may be selective.
Kommissionen fandt, at reformen var regionalt selektiv, idet omfang den fastsatte, at selskaber, der var beliggende i Gibraltar, blev beskattet til en lavere satsen d virksomheder i DetForenedeKongerige .
If the Commission demonstrates the existence of derogations from the‘normal’tax regime resulting in a differentiation between undertakings, the Member State concerned may adduce evidence that that differentiation is justified by the nature and general scheme of its tax system.
Den fandt endvidere, at tre aspekter ved skattereformen var selektive på det materielle plan: for det første kravet om, at der skal være et overskud, før der pålægges lønskat og BPOT, idet dette krav begunstiger de virksomheder, der ikke har noget overskud.
In that eventuality, the Commission must determine, in a third stage, that that is indeed the case.
For det andet det loft på 15% af overskuddet med hensyn til lønskat og BPOT, idet denne skattesats begunstiger de virksomheder, som for det pågældende skatteår måtte have lave overskud i forhold til antallet af ansatte og deres besiddelse af erhvervsejendom. For det tredje lønskatten og BPOT, idet disse to former for beskatning i sagens natur begunstiger virksomheder uden nogen fysisk tilstedeværelse i Gibraltar.
In that connection, the Court added that, if the Commission fails to carry out the first two abovementioned stages, it cannot embark upon the third stage, as otherwise it will go beyond the limits of its review.
Ved anvendelse af betingelserne fastsat i retspraksis vedrørende støtte ydet af regionale eller lokale myndigheder 17 fastslog Retten, at referencerammen med hensyn til vurderin- gen af den selektive karakteraf den pågældende skattereform udelukkende er begrænset til Gibraltar, og at der derfor ikke kan foretages nogen sammenligning med den ordning, der gælder for DetForenedeKongerige .
Noting that the Commission neither began by identifying the‘normal’regime under the notified tax system nor challenged the Gibraltar authorities’description of that regime, the Court held that that institution was unable to establish that certain of the elements of the notified tax system constituted derogations, and were therefore prima facie selective, vis-à-vis the‘normal’regime.